Holiday season is well and truly underway, time to take off from work to relax and recuperate, however, for many, booking annual leave can cause stress and anxiety. However, holidays are vitally important as they help us to stay balanced, healthy and stop us drowning in work related stress.
I think it’s fair to say that most of us will spend some point of our holidays worrying about work, checking emails and picking up bits of work when we should be relaxing, pretty pointless really.
Fear not we have some solutions, so read on to find out some helpful hints on how to switch off from work and come back refreshed and revitalised, you’ll then be ready to cope with whatever work has to throw at you!!!
Try not to leave anything half done it’ll only make you stress while you’re away, finish off any loose ends and leave a handover document if you’re not able to get everything done.
Tell people that you won’t be checking emails then set up an out of office email, how long you’ll be away, and who people should contact if they need anything urgently.
Get some perspective, you are not indispensable while you are away, other colleagues will cover for you, in much the same way you would cover for them this does not mean they will get your job! If they were better than you, they would already have it and going away for 1 or 2 weeks is not going to change this…
Switch off your work phone, I know it’s tempting, but don’t message your work wife for all the office drama that you may/may not be missing while you’re away. Technology is such a massive part of our lives today, that we are constantly distracted, you don’t need to know any work goings on, wait until you get back!
Do nothing, give yourelf permission to completely switch off, a recent study published in the Psychological Science journal suggests that sitting back doing nothing can boost your skills, productivity and commitment, allowing you to re-focus and reduce stress…
I for one will be practicing the above when I go on my annual holiday in a few weeks time, I’m going to switch off, kick back and enjoy my holiday guilt free!!!
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