(Mostly) Not Working on Vacation
Nov. 28th, 2023 08:58 amMy Thanksgiving week trip ended a day and a half ago. As I've begun the week back at work I'm reflecting on how I (mostly) didn't work on vacation.
I've noted before that it's harder and harder in the remote-work era to avoid work while on vacation. Not only does Corporate America (and in this case I mean workers as well as leaders) have an unhealthy culture of work-life imbalance, but modern technology makes it easier than ever to reason, "I'll just join a meeting or two while I'm out," "I'll work on that report that's due after I get back," or, "I'll keep up with email since so many important things are going on." It's harder than ever to truly unplug— and so many people think that's okay.
Unplugging while on vacation has seldom been a challenge for me. I've always made a point of it. And for the last many years I've had managers and colleagues who support good boundaries.
There is one concession I make to "working" while on vacation. I quote working because it's such a minor thing. I delete email. Yes, I check my work email, via my phone, once a day or so to delete it. 😳 No, I don't delete important stuff. But I do clear out all the spam and automated notifications. It takes generally a minute or so a day, and it greatly reduces the cognitive load I face when I do return to work after my trip. I'm not snowed under by having 200+ unread emails in my queue. On Monday I only had maybe 50. 😅
Sometimes in pruning email and Slack messages that are unimportant I spot something that's truly time sensitive. I spotted one of those early last week and dove in to address it. It took 5 minutes, maybe 10 tops. For me that was a real break from the norm. It was frustrating having to do it. But I do dive into things like that every once in a while when it seems they could blow up if others press the issue in my absence.
I've noted before that it's harder and harder in the remote-work era to avoid work while on vacation. Not only does Corporate America (and in this case I mean workers as well as leaders) have an unhealthy culture of work-life imbalance, but modern technology makes it easier than ever to reason, "I'll just join a meeting or two while I'm out," "I'll work on that report that's due after I get back," or, "I'll keep up with email since so many important things are going on." It's harder than ever to truly unplug— and so many people think that's okay.
Unplugging while on vacation has seldom been a challenge for me. I've always made a point of it. And for the last many years I've had managers and colleagues who support good boundaries.
There is one concession I make to "working" while on vacation. I quote working because it's such a minor thing. I delete email. Yes, I check my work email, via my phone, once a day or so to delete it. 😳 No, I don't delete important stuff. But I do clear out all the spam and automated notifications. It takes generally a minute or so a day, and it greatly reduces the cognitive load I face when I do return to work after my trip. I'm not snowed under by having 200+ unread emails in my queue. On Monday I only had maybe 50. 😅
Sometimes in pruning email and Slack messages that are unimportant I spot something that's truly time sensitive. I spotted one of those early last week and dove in to address it. It took 5 minutes, maybe 10 tops. For me that was a real break from the norm. It was frustrating having to do it. But I do dive into things like that every once in a while when it seems they could blow up if others press the issue in my absence.