A vacation is supposed to be a time when you turn off work notifications and focus on things completely different than emails or meetings.
Yet many people leave feeling like they have to be ready to take action at any moment. They check their phones by the pool, reply to messages from their hotel room, or bring their laptop “just in case.”
This isn’t a problem with any one specific person. It’s often a sign of how the company operates.
If a team can’t function for two weeks without one person, that doesn’t say much about the employee. It says a lot about information sharing, substitutability, and the structure of responsibilities.
It’s during summer vacations that a company’s culture reveals itself much more clearly than on career websites or in recruitment campaigns.
Vacation as a Test of Company Culture
July and August tend to be an interesting time for companies. People go away for a week or two, and that’s when you see how well the processes are set up.
In some places, work comes to a standstill because one person has all the important information stored in their head. Elsewhere, substitutability works naturally, and the client doesn’t even notice that part of the team is on vacation.
Today, candidates are interested in work flexibility, benefits, and the option to work remotely. But the answer to another question is just as important:
Can an employee take a vacation without feeling like they’ll return to chaos upon their return? It is precisely these kinds of experiences that shape an employer’s reputation far more than corporate presentations.
“Cell phones are a burden to people who carry their work with them, because their mere presence triggers the Zeigarnik Effect—people find it difficult to completely forget about things they’ve left unfinished.” —Jennifer Deal, senior research scientist at the Center for Creative Leadership.
It’s so easy to get in touch with you that, in your mind, you’re always actively “connected.”
If you have a vacation coming up, listen up. I have a few ideas for you on how to disconnect.
1. Prepare to Hand off Your Work So No One Has to Chase You
You’re surely used to planning your work. And it’s no different before a vacation. You probably have plenty of tasks, but only some of them are truly important and require your attention right now.
Pick the ones that can’t wait. Finish the tasks with the earliest due dates and the ones that keep you up at night. Because believe me, you wouldn’t be able to sleep even on vacation. Put off the ones that are just as important.
TIP: Go through your calendar and create a to-do list. Don’t forget to reschedule meetings and agree on new dates. When creating your to-do list, use the 80/20 rule, and you’ll be left with only the real priorities.
Don’t plan anything new until you return from vacation. Last-minute tasks would overwhelm you.
If, despite this, you’re unable to finish some of these priority tasks, don’t worry. It definitely won’t ruin your vacation. Simply arrange with your colleagues or manager for them to cover for you while you’re away.
The better you plan everything in advance, the less your conscience and work will weigh on you. You can then go on vacation feeling confident that you haven’t forgotten anything.
The most important thing isn’t to finish everything. What’s more important is that others know what’s happening with the projects, where to find the necessary information, and who to turn to. A thorough handover reduces stress for both you and your colleagues.
2. Before You Leave: Let Everyone Know You’re on Vacation and Set Up an Auto-Reply
Want to leave with peace of mind? Send an email in advance to all your clients and colleagues letting them know you’re on vacation and won’t be available. Make it clear that you won’t be able to handle any requests during this time.
If you’ve made arrangements with your colleagues, forward urgent emails from clients to them.
Don’t forget to set up autoresponders for your email as well. That way, people will know you’re not ignoring them and will be happy to wait.
"Not setting boundaries between work and personal time can be bad for your health."
Kathleen Hall, founder and CEO of the Mindful Living Network and the Stress Institute.
Companies with clearly defined rules for covering for absent employees handle vacation time much more easily. Clients are told who to contact, and employees don’t have to check their inbox every hour.
3. Before You Go: Put Away All Distractions and Turn Off Notifications
Yes, I’m mainly talking about your cell phone. As mentioned earlier, cell phones keep us connected. We’re always online and stay in “work mode.”
Whenever something flashes on our phone, we want to check it. Whenever we look at our phone, we tend to fall back into our old habits. And one of our habits is checking work emails or a WhatsApp group.
We might not even realize we’re doing it. Suddenly, within a few seconds, we’ve opened our email and wonder how we got there. How can I put it? We’ve just got it down pat. The brain does what we’ve taught it to do without expending any energy.
So put your phones away, turn off notifications, and if you can, feel free to disconnect from Wi-Fi as well.
If you’re constantly working while on vacation, it can have a negative impact on your work later on. This can lead to burnout and fatigue—which means lower performance, a bad mood, and insomnia.
"Constantly shifting your focus keeps you in work mode and prevents you from disconnecting and recharging," says Bill Becker, an associate professor at the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech who studies organizational behavior.
If an employee regularly deals with work-related matters while on vacation, this creates a problem not only for the employee. It also gives other team members the impression that being constantly available is the expected standard.
4. A Good Vacation Doesn’t Start at the Airport
A good vacation begins several weeks before departure.
In companies where work is delegated, information is shared, and employees can cover for one another, employees don’t have to worry about whether they should check their email while on the beach.
They can take time off and truly disconnect.
And that is one of the most practical indicators of a company’s culture. Not what’s written on the career page, but how easily people can take a break from work when they’re on vacation.
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