So you’re going on vacation, sweet! You deserve it! But you’re about to leave work for who knows how long and suddenly you start getting anxious about leaving… even though you really want (need) this out of office time! Here are the simple steps to take to prep your work life for a vacation!
I’m always so excited to plan a vacation and get really pumped the closer it gets to leaving! Then without fail a few days before I leave I start to freak out about work. Anyone else? I always feel like I have to make myself available on vacation because I think I’m the only one who can handle the situation. LOL. Not true yall. Everyone has colleagues that can step in. LET THEM! You worry about getting your suitcase to close… that’s definitely one thing you won’t see on here: how to pack in a super small bag haha!
Alright, so you’re about to leave for vacation but you want to make sure you get your work life in order to go on vacation and not worry right? I got you covered! Here’s what you do…
I try to do this a few days before I’m going to leave because if I don’t I will remember when on the tarmac about five minutes before take off! Keep it simple and to the point. The most important parts: dates you’ll be out, who to contact while you’re out, and if you have access to email/phone. All of these things should be decided beforehand. You know my thoughts on fully taking your vacation and not being avaliable by phone when you’re out… it’s your vacation! Take it fully!
Who is going to handle things if stuff turns into a dumpster fire when you’re gone? You want to make sure that person is briefed or at least has a cheat sheet of things that could go crazy while you’re out. Chances are you’re going to be their backup when they take vacation so don’t feel bad about that! You can choose to have this person be the person to throw in your OOO message or not. Sometimes it’s just easier to put the front desk in your OOO because your backup probably doesn’t have to deal with everything you get emails about.
The last thing you need is to come back to a mess of voicemails about stuff that has already been handled. Forward your calls to your point person or staff member or even the front desk. You can always let the front desk know to have people email you, that way they’ll get your OOO. If you don’t feel comfortable with that then try changing your voicemail to reflect your OOO.
Determine what needs to get handled before you leave, what can wait until after you come back, and what is up in the air. Handle the things that need to be squared away prior to taking off and let things rest if they aren’t pressing. You don’t have to do an month’s worth of work before you leave on a week long trip but you also want to be prepared. I recommend starting this process the week prior to your last week in the office. Anytime I start it the Monday/Tuesday before I leave on Saturday I inevitably end up staying late a few days.
Weather. Cancelled flights. Sickness. Travel is crazy and you might end up being out for an extra day on the tail end of your trip. Plan for that, don’t schedule anything pressing for the day you should be back and prepare as if you aren’t going to get back in the office that day. If you do miss your flight, you’ll be less anxious about it, and if you do make it back in time then your first day back will be that much easier. Because the first day back at work after a vacation sucks.
Savor your vacation! Don’t check emails, don’t check voicemails. Unless you’re the President you don’t need to be on call. Your office can and will survive with out you for a week. When you get back you can work on knocking out your to-do list but while you’re on vacation from work don’t stress about it.
