Have you ever gone on vacation only to never have actually gotten there? Your body made it. But your mind is still at the office. Vacation is an evidence-based intervention to decrease stress, improve your immune system, and boost creativity. There are many studies showing the positive effects:
- Increases positive emotions and reduces depression | University of Pittsburgh’s Mind-Body Center
- Increases quality of work. Every additional 10 hours of vacation time that employees took, their year-end performance improved 8% | Ernest & Young
- Increases in productivity | PubMed
- And for those companies who mandate vacation time, the benefit is cultivating a culture that counters any warrior or martyr mentality, where employees boast about how busy they are or how they have not taken vacation (Zucker, 2023).
So what is preventing U.S. workers from taking vacation?
Last year according to the Pew Research Center, “46% of U.S. workers who receive paid time off from their employer – whether for vacation, doctor’s appointments or minor illness-take less time than they are offered” (Dinesh & Parker, 2023, para. 1).
When asked the reason behind was why they did not take their PTO, these were the following reasons:
- They didn’t feel like they needed to take more time off.
- They worried they might fall behind at work.
- They feel badly about co-workers taking on additional work.
- They said taking more time off might hurt chances for advancement.
- They had a manager/supervisor discourages taking time off.
- Source: Survey of U.S. workers conducted Feb. 6-12, 2023. “How Americans View Their Jobs”.
As we embark on vacation plans this summer of 2024, it would be a shame if you didn’t actually get to enjoy your vacation from the PTO you earned. Read on to learn some tips on preparing to actually enjoy your time off this year.
Checklist for Prior to Vacation
- Don’t try to get all of your work done before leaving.
- Make the week leading up to your vacation as routine as you can. There is no need to exhaust yourself before going on vacation.
- Take your work email off of your phone.
- You can put your email back on your phone when you get back to work. If it is an emergency, they will call you and find you.
- Communicate early to your clients and colleagues about your vacation.
- Send an email so they have it in writing.
- Send a reminder email 24 hours before you leave.
- Schedule a handoff with the person providing coverage for you while you are out. Put the handoff in writing.
- Take at least a week off.
- It takes us a few days to relax into our vacations.
- Get away from your home
- There is no need to be reminded of all the projects you could be working on during your time off.
- Out of office email:
- Include the dates you are out, when you will be back in the office, and who will be the person of contact while you are out.
Checklist for During Vacation
- Silence your notifications.
- Don’t let your phone interrupt you on vacation. Instead, you set specific times that you will check your phone, if you do.
- Keep coming back to the present moment.
- Remind yourself you are on vacation and you will get to your work when you return.
Checklist for Returning from Vacation
- Be kind to yourself. It is going to take some time to get updated.
- Catch up on phone calls and emails on the first day.
- Avoid attending meetings the first day you return. Unless those meetings are specific to getting updated on events that occurred while you were out. Connect with your team and find out what they need from you first.
- If someone has sent you more than 3 emails while you were out, schedule a 15-minute phone call with them instead of answering the emails. This builds the relationship while also giving everyone an opportunity to be heard and responded to.
If you can’t get away for a vacation this year, consider signing up for a mindfulness course. Evidence shows that this has similar results to taking a vacation.
The point is you are too valuable to not take care of yourself. Don’t be denied. Take the PTO you earned.
