Tips for Switching Off from Work on Vacation

Many business owners desperately want and need to go on vacation, but find it difficult to escape from the constant drive to check in on their businesses. Devices, computers and the nearly worldwide availability of phone service and wifi make it even harder for a busy professional to get away for much needed relaxation. Here are some great tips to help you get away on your next getaway!

Practice makes perfect

Start with a modest goal. If you are a compulsive e-mail/phone checker, maybe an hour is all you can do to start with. Once you can stand one hour without checking in, try 4, then 8. Extending the amount of time that you can go without checking in with the rest of the world will show your subconscious mind that the world will not fall apart if you are not there to tend to it every waking moment of your day.

Specify time for catching up

If you don’t think that you can go for an extended period on your vacation without checking messages, designate a limited time each day of your vacation for checking with the rest of the world. Prioritize the most important issues to take care of, and put the rest into a special folder for dealing with when you return. Make sure that you don’t go over your time limit; your vacation time is important and a scarce commodity!

Choose a filter

Pick someone that you trust back at your office to act as your filter. Choose someone who is familiar with your job duties and priorities, and ask that person to decide which messages really need your attention and only forward those on to you. This involves some trust, but it can be a good way to make sure that important issues get dealt with without eating up your precious vacation time. To save further time for relaxing, pick onl y one avenue to receive messages while you are gone (ie: e-mail OR phone, not both) to save you time checking multiple devices.

Add a day onto your vacation

Shhh, don’t tell anyone, but you are scheduling an extra day onto your trip (or coming back a day early) and you aren’t telling anyone, ok? This will give you a day to catch up on sleep, messages and whatever else you need to catch up on to resume your normal life. You can then tell pesky little messages that you filed away into a special folder while you are gone to pipe down and be quiet so you can enjoy your trip! You have set aside time to deal with them when you get back.

Let everyone know that you are leaving

This seems obvious, but just in case, let everyone know that you are leaving well ahead of your actual departure to give them adequate time to send all of those last minute requests so that you don’t get bogged down with all of them on the last day right before you depart.

Cold turkey

If all else fails and you can’t bear to be away from your devices but you desperately need a break, choose a remote destination with no wifi or cell phone service! You will then have no choice but to relax and enjoy your break!