Remember when technology hadn’t yet infiltrated our lives and blurred the boundaries between work and home? Remember when we could take a vacation and we felt refreshed afterwards? Remember when staycation didn’t mean you were working from home for a week?
I usually spend my days training people how to be more productive. My career goal is to help busy professionals find more time in their day, to organize the world one desk drawer at a time. So, you might be surprised to know I believe one of the best ways to become more productive is to take advantage of recovery periods and to reduce the use of technology.
In “The Making of a Corporate Athlete,” Jim Loehr and Tony Shwartz explain we should follow the example of elite athletes. Athletes know that in order to perform at their peek, they need to push themselves and then take time to recover. Executives and professionals tend to work until they drop and then take time to recover because they are forced to.
Often when we go away for a vacation, we are forced to unplug and get away from it all. However, staycations can be a little trickier as we have full access to technology and our colleagues’ expectations can be tough to manage. Here are a few tips for a restful staycation:
Book a Meeting with Yourself
While you are on vacation your backlog will grow and chances are there will be a number of people vying for your attention when you return. Nothing erases the post vacation glow faster than a huge backlog and too many meetings. When you book your vacation or staycation, also block time during the day you return, to clear your backlog. Otherwise, you might find yourself in meetings all day as your backlog continues to grow and your stress levels increase.
Manage Your Technology
Raise your right hand. Repeat after me. “I will break my email addiction while I am on staycation. If I must check email, I will decide ahead of time how many times I will check email. I will follow the rules I have set, no matter how hard it is. I will only check email from my computer.” Too many of us are checking email every time we pick up our smart phone….and our phone is always in our hand. We will feel less stressed if we check our email less often. We will be more engaged with family and the activities we enjoy if we park our smart phone at least some of the time. The goal should be to pick up our smart phone only when we have consciously decided to check email or make a phone call. Arrange a time each day to clear your inbox. Whenever possible try to use your computer instead of your smart phone, so you can touch each email one time and get it out of your inbox.
Send Delayed Responses
We teach people how to work with us. If you turn on an “out of office” message and then respond to each email immediately, people will learn you are working during your vacation and continue to send you email. If you decide to check email during your vacation, delay your response until you return to work, for all non-urgent email.
Pay Yourself First
One of the first rules of personal finance is to pay yourself first. The same is true when you are allotting a time budget. Like money, time is limited. When planning your staycation, plan time for fun and recovery first. Then allocate time for chores and email.
Focus on Vacationing
Focusing trumps multi-tasking every time. Focusing takes less time, leads to better quality work and is less stressful. In terms of vacation, this means you could multi-task by checking e-mail and hanging out with the kids. Or you could focus by hanging out with the kids and then checking your email at a designated time. Focusing during your vacation leads to more fun, better memories and greater relaxation.
Our family has a staycation planned for this summer. I am really looking forward to it. Of course, I have planned it all. After all, I am a productivity consultant with a healthy dose of OCD. I have blocked time for golf, swimming with my kids, reading, catching up with friends and even for being a tourist in my own city. Yes, I will probably check email while I am on vacation. I want to make sure nothing requiring urgent attention lands in my inbox. However, I’ll keep in mind I deserve the rest and recovery time I work hard for all year. In fact, I need the recovery time to be more productive.
Leave A Comment