I took two weeks off for the first time in a decade. Guess what happened?
F All.
2 weeks off, 2k unread emails later, what’s the lesson here? Life goes on. I’ve spent almost a decade depriving myself of any quality time off, but we booked our trip to the States to see family a year ago and determined to take the two weeks off (mainly due to the budget being spent and my refusal to not have a bloody good time for that money), I switched off. I avoided emails, left my work phone on flight mode for most of the trip and unsurprisingly - it was bliss.
I actually really like work, and I’ve had a hard time letting go of being ‘on’. Just some past examples including my sister’s hen in Ibiza for 5 days and sister’s wedding in Mallorca for 6 nights (looked at emails every day), family long weekend camping in Rye (guess what, I was always on my emails). I’m a little ashamed of that now. At the time I honestly felt like that was me doing the best thing for the businesses. The fact that it was multiple businesses, I think, was the issue, in that I’m doing a couple of full-time jobs, so it’s impossible to know when to let go. But, having taken the time to switch off and seeing that things are completely fine to wait, I wish I’d realised that sooner. I’ve also never thought about what’s best for me, or the family. I’ve kidded myself that because I’m doing work when the baby is napping, and it’s therefore not encroaching on our family time, that it’s harmless. But by splitting my focus between holiday and work can mean that I’m not 100% present, and that is an issue.
I’m not saying I simply switched my out of office on and said ‘sayonara’ two weeks ago, there was some planning involved for me to be able to take the time.
Potentially obvious, but essential key pointers in making my time off enjoyable included:
Giving everyone decent notice and allowing time for me to feed into work before I left, also to avoid double booking team holiday.
Briefing individuals to pick up certain tasks in my absence, rather than a team, so people understood that they were accountable.
Being super clear in my out of office message that I would not be available and who to speak to for what. It sounds silly, but when you are wearing many hats, directing people to where to get the right support, really helps.
Giving guidance on what I would and wouldn’t like to feed into. Which also meant that a couple of scenarios could be discussed with the team to ensure the best outcome (briefly on WhatsApp), during the trip.
Avoided social media (and Substack *sobs*). I can’t lie and say I had a complete hiatus, but I spent only a few habitual moments on social and actively decided to avoid being on any channels.
Ultimately, to relax on leave, it’s not just about being out of the office, but being equipped to enjoy the break, and planning so you don’t have to dread the time to return. Lesson learnt, and here’s to the next holiday (once the credit cards are paid off).