Is your body on the beach but your brain is in the office?
Did you know…
- 20% of people cannot relax each day on holiday until they’ve checked their work emails
- More emails are read on mobile devices than on laptops or desktops
- The average UK employee only takes 77% of their annual leave each year
Holidays are not only good for your health but good for your business, scientific research shows that people who take a holiday have reduced stress levels, are at lower risk of developing heart disease and have increased productivity. But for the majority of us the pressures of modern work make it difficult for us to switch off our minds and our screens.
Try these practical tips to enable you to get the most from your holiday:
Prioritise
It’s rare that we ever get everything done, so make a list of the things that must be done before you go. Block out your diary on your last day at work to ensure that you can deal with any last minute work.
Prepare
In the weeks before your holiday prepare your clients and your team/colleagues. Let people know who their contact is in your absence, even if you can’t introduce them in person beforehand make sure you do it via email.
Prepare for your return too – keeping your diary free on the first day back so you can catch up on your emails and get a debrief from your team.
Holidays are a great way to give people a chance to step up. If it’s your own business or a team this is an ideal opportunity for your team to show you what they can do.
Power off
Consider taking a separate phone so that you can avoid constantly checking your emails. Or if you can’t avoid work totally set clear times about when you’ll be contactable and stick to them. One additional tip is to turn off your email notifications, so that the small red icon with the number of emails you have waiting for you never appears. Just seeing the number increase can add to your stress, the emails will be there, so turn off the visual reminder.
Principles
If you’re still worried about taking time off try and use these principles taken from Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living:
1) Live in day- tight compartments – yesterday has already happened, tomorrow is unknown and today is all you can control.
2) What’s the worst that can happen? – Even in the worst possible scenarios there’s generally always a solution. Try and rationalise situations by asking yourself – will this matter in 6 months time.
and finally….
Relax and enjoy your break, you deserve it!
For more tips and free resources on how to help you prepare for your holiday download: