Laptops, tablets, smartphones and now smartwatches. What’s next? I bet drones will soon be sending us messages much like the carrier pigeon did in times of lore.
More than ever before, we are ‘wired’ for communication. It can be fantastic when it allows us to get an important piece of work done unexpectedly on our smartphone. How about that time you sent a time sensitive email while behind the coupon cutter in the line at the grocery store? #copingmechanisms I could write forever on how wonderful being connected is in our modern world. It’s an amazing time to be alive isn’t it?
What about the dark side of connectivity? How do we feel revitalized if we never really get away? When I come back from a vacation I want to feel like my physical batteries are recharged and my mental operating system is updated to the latest release. I want to step back into office with renewed creativity to tackle new challenges and achieve new goals.
Unfortunately, for me disconnecting isn’t that simple. For the past few years, I’ve been going out into the woods without any devices in an extreme statement of societal and cultural severance but those trips aren’t vacations, they’re something entirely different.
In the past, I haven’t been clear with myself about how available I am when I go on vacation. If I’m not clear with myself, how am I going to be clear with my co-workers, clients and travel companions? The problem with my lack of clarity is I end up disappointing people – either my travel companions, my team, my clients or everyone. It’s not a winning formula.
However if I’m first clear with myself that I’m taking a vacation and that I won’t be available while I’m gone, I can easily set the expectations of not only my co-workers and clients but also my travel companions. I know this may sound obvious to many of you but I don’t think I’m the only one that screws this up, especially in today’s business world where you can do an important conference call from the hiking trail. I just went to iStockphoto to find a picture to illustrate my point and take a look what I found right on the iStockphoto homepage? I rest my case.
The 7 Steps To Do Before Vacation
- Say goodbye to everyone, you’re going on vacation: Don’t be rude.
- Write a Truck Memo: This document will define the status of all your projects and allow co-workers to step in and take your jobs to completion in case your zip-line unzips.
- Define Your Backup: Find a backup for your current projects. If you have multiple people covering you, define it in the Truck Memo. Let each client know who they can contact while you’re gone.
- Communicate to your team: Tell them more than once when you’re going away and be sure to send them a link to your Truck Memo before you leave. Enjoy rubbing it in especially if you’re going somewhere cool like Maui but don’t forget some people have abandonment issues.
- Communicate with your clients: Let them know who they can contact in your absence and the dates of your vacation. Believe it or not, it’s not such a bad thing for them to get a break from you either. Was that rude? Sorry.
- Write a simple Auto-Responder for all incoming email: Leave no doubt that you are unavailable and give people a resource to contact in your absence. Don’t forget to turn it off when you get back to the office. That’s embarrassing.
- Delete your Work Apps on your phone: What? Yep I’m saving the best for last. This one is mandatory. We use Slack and Basecamp for internal communication and I use Outlook for my work email. I will be deleting all three of them from my phone right before my flight attendant orders me to put my phone in airplane mode. The two words, ‘Airplane mode’ signify the beginning of my vacation. You can easily add the apps back as soon as your plane lands at your home airport. Don’t forget to clear your calendar for the entire time your gone. Out of sight, out of mind. You don’t want that phone, tablet or smartphone pinging you at the beach. Oh no, that is not ok. Enjoy your adult beverage without the interruption of meeting notifications, thoughts of spreadsheets, design iterations, budgets, timelines etc. Delete those apps. Do it. You and everyone else will be fine. If it’s an absolute emergency, they can call you. Make them call you.
Implement these 7 steps and go on a stress free vacation.
You will be missed but not forgotten.
