Many of us will be taking vacations this summer. And, for most of us in today’s business world, vacations can be a mixed blessing. Many of us find it hard to disconnect. In addition, the preparation to get ready to go and the aftermath when we get back can be overwhelming. This discomfort is widespread, with only 53% of working Americans saying they come back feeling rested and rejuvenated after vacation, and 30% saying they have trouble coping with work stress while they’re away, according to an Expedia.com survey reported in the Wall Street Journal.
Over the Independence Day holiday weekend I had a little preview of what there is to confront when taking a vacation. I took the three day weekend off and I did not check email! (I must admit that it was somewhat easier to do this given most of the rest of the United States was also off that weekend and, for the most part, not sending emails.) And, even though it was only three days, I really did disconnect! It was fabulous!
What got me was the aftermath of the weekend. On Friday, before I left for the weekend, I got done everything that was essential. However, there were a number of things, many in email, which I did not get to and did not confront when I would get to. I also, foolishly, scheduled myself fairly heavily the first couple days after the weekend.
You may already get the picture – I came back, went into my heavy schedule, and didn’t have enough time to deal with, let alone have enough time to schedule, those things not confronted before the weekend began. The un-done items swirled around in my head for a few days until I intervened in my schedule and created time to confront the list. Once again, sanity prevailed, but not until after a fight.
In addition to the survey statistics, something else struck me in the Wall Street Journal article. Dr. Bryan E. Robinson said “true workaholics are driven less by real workplace demands than by low self-esteem and fear of inadequacy.” Whether or not that is the case, what I could see in myself is that there was a drive to crowd my schedule before and after even a brief time off. Considering what Dr. Robinson said, I could see that, for me, crowding my schedule was at least to some degree driven by wanting to look good, definitely not determined by the workload.
There are many great tips, some included in the aforementioned article, about how to prepare for, what to do on, and how to return from a vacation that will support having a restful vacation and smooth transition back into work. I feel that, to have the tips be optimally effective, it works best to become aware of what’s driving the unproductive, habitual behavior. Armed with this insight, I feel I can go into my next vacation (late September) oriented around what will most effectively work in my schedule to fulfill what’s of greatest importance, rather than being driven by how I think I will look. I will keep you posted!
As always, I invite you to share from your own experience and let us know what you are finding. Thanks for reading!
