5 simple steps to prevent “always on” during your holidays
Work from home very often leads to the situation that we are always available and as “at home” became “at work” we are always at work. Taking time off has become more important than ever.
Yes, it’s important that you take some time off — even though travelling is currently almost impossible. As much as I’d like to travel I had to acknowledge that taking time off isn’t necessarily about travelling, it’s about recharging your batteries.
So do yourself a favor and take some time off every now and then. And if you do so make sure that you won’t be disturbed and you can enjoy your time off. When working remotely it’s even more important to make sure that people know when you are off and are prepared for it. In a remote work situation — in contrast to physically being in the office — people can not simply walk by your empty desk to realize that you’re on holiday.
So make sure that everything is well-prepared by following those simple steps:
#1 Align holidays with your team members
When planning your holidays check with your colleagues and partners if the timing is right. Ideally you have a shared calendar with all your team members’ holidays in place.
#2 Prepare your team members
As soon as the timing for your holidays is set, make sure to prepare your team members for your absence. To do so find someone within your team who can step in for you during your time off.
Note: If you’ve got many different topics on your desk, it might also make sense to have more people stepping in for you, based on the specific topic (e.g. Colleague 1 takes care of internal topics, Colleague 2 takes care of external topics).
In most cases just defining someone as your holiday replacement will not be enough. So schedule an appointment for a handover a couple of days prior to your leave. To make sure that your handover meeting is prepared well you might wanna take a look at my last post about improved meetings.
If necessary set up a list with things to do for your team members or at least drop them a quick message.
#3 Announce your time off
On the last day before you start your well deserved holidays announce your time off again to make sure everyone is aware of your absence. A simple email or Slack post is sufficient. Make sure to do that right in the morning so people have a chance to get back to you before you leave.
It might also make sense to mention your upcoming holidays regularly in (email) conversations a few days before your leave so people aren’t surprised.
#4 Be transparent about your status
Having everything handed over make sure that people are immediately aware of your absence when they’re trying to contact you:
- Set an “Out of Office” notification in your email client (Outlook, Gmail,…):
Keep it short and simple. Let people know when you are back and name your holiday replacement(s) within that notification, so people know who to reach out to in urgent matters. - Update your status in your instant messaging client (Slack, MS Teams, Mattermost,…) accordingly:
Add a clear description to your status that lets people know when you’ll be back again (see screenshot of Slack)
#5 Enjoy the sound of silence - Do not disturb
And last but not least, set your phone, mail clients, messaging clients,… to “Do not disturb” mode. Lean back and recharge. You deserve it.
“And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence”- Simon & Garfunkel, 1964
