How do you make sure to stay away from work during your holidays?

[Gabriele]

Hello everyone, I'm starting to mentally prepare for my holidays, and I’d love to hear any tips you have to make sure you stay away from your work email and Slack when off. 🏖

I'm a bit worried because I'll be off for a bit, and I'm sure I'll be tempted to check in and make sure everything is still going well. 😬 

So let me know, how do you keep work and holidays separate?

[Daisy81]

Super timely topic @Gabriele – I'm thinking of taking some time off soon, but it can sometimes be hard to fully unplug. I think it's so work dependent as well! How long do you plan on being OOO for, and did you request consecutive days off, or are you planning on working a little here and a little there? 

My personal recommendation would be to not try to work a bit here and work a bit there unless its ABSOLUTELY necessary. In the past, I tried to squeeze in some time, and it really took me out of vacation mode, which is a **bleep** because you pay money and time to be "on holiday". 

The other recommendation I think is absolutely necessary for extended holidays is to create an "Out of Office" playbook. I created one when I was OOO for a week, and I think it was really helpful (for me more so than my manager) to have something to reference, and to know which of my projects are blocked, what I'm waiting for/who would execute on the work while I'm gone, and what the agreed upon steps are for XYZ project while I'm out. Ensuring my manager was well prepared gave me piece of mind, and I felt less tempted to check Slack for emergencies.

Which...speaking of Slack...just delete it from your phone haha. In my Out of Office playbook, I left my phone number and Whatsapp. If its TRULY super important, they can call or text me, but checking Slack would just give me high key anxiety. 

At the end of the day, I bet everyone's job requires them to respond to holiday time off differently. I think whatever is best for you to ensure you maintain your sanity is the best way to go! I would love to hear what others have to say about tips for taking time off!

[Gabriele]

I'll be away for three weeks, so quite some time to be off all in one go. 

I'm not too concerned about the work itself, as I'll prepare most things and schedule them throughout my time off, but I'm afraid I'll be tempted to "peek" into what's going on. 

Thanks for the tips, @Daisy81 I'll be making goos use of them. In fact, Slack has just been uninstalled. 🤣