With a recent survey claiming 62% of travelers check their work emails while vacationing abroad, you’d be forgiven for finding it hard to completely switch off during your holiday. After all, with smartphones blurring the line between professional and personal lifestyles, it can be easy to get drawn in – with one quick glance at your work email often leading to an hour of work-related communications and a subsequently frustrated family.
Luckily, today, we’ll be sharing some tips on how to ‘check-in’ to your work without disrupting your holiday, helping you to keep one eye on the business world without having to sacrifice your quality relaxation and family time.
Preparation is key
Just like in any professional environment, the key to success is organization. Plan ahead, ensuring all management, co-workers, clients and employees are notified in advance of your holiday period. Give them a contact number for emergencies only, meaning you can rest assured that you can be contacted when absolutely necessary, while hopefully decreasing the amount of day-to-day business that ends up landing in your inbox.
Delegate transferrable workloads to trusted colleagues, meaning you can spend less time worrying about whether your work is done to a satisfactory standard. A quick email to check in is acceptable here, and, with a trusted and competent colleague backing you up at home, this should be a quick and easy process.
Furthermore, set an automated email response while you’re away to immediately notify people of your absence. This reduces the expectation of an immediate response and means you can respond at your leisure. Following these preparation tips will contribute to a less hectic email inbox that you can consequently still check in on every now and then, without taking up as much time or stress!
Set aside time in the day
With a dramatically reduced workload, you can now create a manageable balance between work and holiday time.
It’s important to always prioritize both your company and surroundings when indulging in professional work, however. For example, reading the latest industry news, checking the markets or replying to the morning’s emails has no place if you’re spending some valuable time with your family, friends or significant other.
As such, avoid any work-related activity when you’re anywhere else but at your accommodation – and even then, it’s worth trying to restrict it to half an hour in a morning and, if needed, half an hour at night. This will guarantee that work doesn’t dominate your holiday experience, creating a more relaxed you and a happier group of travel companions.
Remember – you’re on holiday!
While it’s easy to get caught up in the fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping world of business, it’s important to remember the importance of unwinding every once in a while.
The key secret to checking into work without ruining your holiday is to prioritize your holiday above all else – keeping the work side of things to an absolute minimum whenever possible. Though you may feel taking time away from the business world is contradictory to your professional ethos, it’s actually quite the opposite. An overindulgence in work can and, indeed, will lead to burn out – reducing productivity and eventually causing greater problems in the long run. Reward yourself with some time away from the day job every now and then, and you’ll reap the benefits when you return.
The key to effectively ‘checking in’ on work while on holiday is to be organized. Being realistic in your expectations will allow you to keep a watchful eye on the business world without sacrificing the quality of your holiday – meaning you’ll be refreshed and ready without being out of the loop next time you put on that suit and tie.
Author bio: John James is the content writer for Learn To Trade – who are forex education and learning specialist, offering a range of training courses to help people learn and understand the forex market, it's opportunities and risks.