For those of you that like your jobs — perhaps even love them — it may be hard to pry yourself away from the desk to lay on a beach for a week.
Our goal may be to take off and clear the mind in a totally burden-free atmosphere. But it’s not always easy to leave work at work.
The truth is, a personal vacation shouldn’t be viewed as a luxury. It’s a necessity. Our personal health and mental well-being require down-time every so often to renew and refresh the mind and soul. And not just a three-day weekend for unscheduled relaxation but enough time so that your stress level can calm and your homelife can take a front seat.
While the majority of us make annual plans to take some time away from work, three-in-ten plan to take the office with them on vacation. Thirty percent of workers said they planned to stay in contact with work during their vacations, CareerBuilder.com‘s annual survey found.
Unfortunately, not everybody can coax his or her way out of working while on vacation. Fifteen percent of workers had to give up personal vacation days last year because they couldn’t even find the time to squeeze it into their hectic schedules.
Are we simply living in a modern society where work has taken precedence over our personal lives?
The obvious purpose of a getaway is to, literally, get away from our repetitive daily agendas and day-to-day routines. But it’s too often easier said than done.
Time off means time off.
So what can you do to ensure that you aren’t in fact bringing the office with you while taking some much needed R&R?
Here are five helpful tips for using your vacation days to actually take a vacation.
Speak Up.
Don’t keep your trip a secret. Although you penciled in your vacation days on your calendar and mentioned it during lunch a couple times, don’t expect everybody to remember. As you prepare for the trip, be sure to remind the appropriate people what day you are leaving and what day you will return.
Set restrictions.
If you have a certain job where you absolutely must check in with your employer, then designate a brief period of time for these tasks. If your company may need to contact you for something while on vacation, make sure to set guidelines on when you’ll be available and stick to them.
Plan properly.
Take a look at the calendar. If you have a huge project due at the end of the summer, then, for your own sanity and the sake of everyone else’s, avoid scheduling a vacation at that time. The more room you leave between the project and your vacation, the better off you’ll be. You don’t want to feel the stress of returning from a vacation and regretting you ever left.
Cover your bases.
Talk with your co-workers and train one another on personal responsibilities; share key contacts and where specific passwords are kept. This reduces the need to contact you while out of the office. Also, inform your clients and customers that you will be gone, and assign an alternative point of contact that they can reach in case of an emergency.
And last but not least… Don’t feel guilty! Your vacation benefits are there for a reason. Enjoy yourself and rejuvenate. The work will still be there when you return. Even though financial challenges and heavy workloads can sometimes make vacation planning difficult, it’s important to find time to recharge. Ultimately, it will translate into a more satisfying work experience that benefits not only you, but your entire workplace.
It isn’t uncommon to be attached to your work, but removing yourself from it every so often will give you a renewed sense of direction and restored energy for the busy months ahead.
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