Holidays are supposed to be about rest and relaxation. But preparing to go on holiday can be one of the most anxiety-inducing parts of your job. There’s so much to worry about when you are away, ranging from clients to deadlines. Failing to prepare can ruin a much-needed break. So how do you ensure that your mind isn’t on the job when you’re on the beach?
Get in the right mindset
You are not short-changing your employer when you go away. Rather, paid holidays are part of your contract — just like a bonus or healthcare insurance — and you should take them. Furthermore, it’s good for you to take time off from work. You will return to your job refreshed and relaxed and better equipped. So, you need to take the best vacation you can.
Create a task list
Make a list of all the tasks that you generally do and any additional ones that need to be done in the lead-up to and during your holiday. Now, divide these into things that must be finished before you go, tasks that can be delegated, those that can wait until you return, and things that will require your attention while you are away. Be ruthless — the last of these should be as short as possible.
Next, tackle the first two parts of the list. Get started on the tasks you can finish yourself before your holiday and make plans to hand over the work you can’t finish (such as time-critical tasks) to members of your team. If you are a manager, the second part of this is a useful exercise. It’s an opportunity to give your people responsibility, stretch their roles, and show them that you believe in them. There are benefits for you, too — you’re developing and empowering your people and learning to let go.
Identify a trusted peer
There may be some critical tasks you cannot delegate — such as a meeting with a senior executive or an important client. Here you should seek the help of a peer. Find the right person; you want someone you trust to do a good job, so you won’t be anxious when you should be enjoying yourself. Don’t worry about asking people for favours in this way — it’s quite flattering (you are effectively saying you trust their judgement), and you can return the favour at a later date. It helps build working relationships, too.
Communicate
Don’t just tell your colleagues and peers you’ll be away. Make a list of all your important stakeholders — clients, customers, and suppliers — and tell them, too.
Develop a ‘problem’ plan
Set out a plan for if things go wrong. Think it through strategically with your team and other stakeholders. You might have three levels. The first is problems that can wait until your return. The second is problems that need to be dealt with by your deputy or by a colleague. The third is problems that they can call you about.
The idea here is that you are contactable, but only if the situation is serious. You have to make it clear that all other options be considered before they contact you.
If you really have to take a call or attend to a task while you’re away, block out time to do this — say a morning — in your holiday and only deal with the task or call in this time. Do not let it creep into the rest of your holiday.
Set up an out-of-office autoreply
Your out-of-office message really only needs three critical pieces of information. These are that you are away, the date you return, and another contact if the matter is urgent or important. For the reasons mentioned above, you should not direct people to contact you if it’s urgent or important, because individual definitions of these vary widely. If it really matters, the colleague whose details you’ve given will get in touch with you. The choice of whether to say, “I’m on holiday”, or the slightly starchy but very normal, “I’m on annual leave”, is an individual one. The same applies to your voicemail message.
Regulate checking messages
Ideally, you wouldn’t check your work phone at all. But many people find this impossible. So set yourself a rule. Say you’ll check it first or last thing in a day and respond only to urgent messages. You do not want to be checking it every 15 minutes on your sun lounger — you need to disconnect. This, incidentally, is why it can be good to go on holiday halfway round the world where time zones mean that there’s no point in checking email obsessively.
In a similar vein, sign out of work-related social media. Instead of posting thought leadership on LinkedIn, post waterfalls and white-sand beaches on your Instagram. You’ll be surprised how quickly the urge to scroll through LinkedIn disappears. Finally, invest some time in choosing books to read before you go — fiction or nonwork nonfiction. You want to have the new John Grisham rather than the latest business book from Tim Ferriss.
If you’re struggling with all this, think about how colleagues perceive you. Constantly checking in makes you look like a micromanager. Going away for two weeks and coming back well-rested and with some good stories makes you look confident and in control. Also, a week or two is no time at all. Nobody is irreplaceable for a fortnight.
Finally, clean your desk before you leave. You don’t want a pile of papers and a couple of dirty coffee cups standing in for you while you’re away.
Visit the Global Career Hub from AICPA & CIMA for help with finding a job or recruiting.
Rhymer Rigby is an FM magazine contributor and author of The Careerist: Over 100 Ways to Get Ahead at Work. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Oliver Rowe at Oliver.Rowe@aicpa-cima.com.
AICPA & CIMA RESOURCES
Articles
“Protect Staff’s Mental Health With True Time Off”, Journal of Accountancy, 17 December 2021
“Preparing for a Leave of Absence”, FM magazine, 11 February 2019
Podcast episode
“Distracted by Digital Communication? How to Regain Control”, FM magazine, 15 November 2023
LEARNING RESOURCE
How to Lead, Coach, and Develop a Winning Team
Great leaders are great coaches and teachers. This course defines the fundamentals for effective teamwork and describes a process for ongoing talent development.
COURSE
