How to ACTUALLY Rest on Vacation

Summer is here, and it's the perfect time to start planning not just where you'll vacation, but how you'll truly disconnect to recharge.

You might fly first class, you might stay in a 5-star hotel, but in our always-on world, being fully offline is the real luxury of vacation.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to ensure you can leave work behind with peace of mind, fully relax, and recover. Whether it's delegating responsibilities, unplugging from all digital leashes, or setting yourself up for a smooth return, I want to help you master the art of truly restful vacations.

How to ACTUALLY Rest on Vacation 

Step #1 :: Ensure your Teammates & Stakeholders get What They Need & Close All Loops 

A primary source of stress on vacation is dropping the ball for teammates and stakeholders, so let's get ahead of that. Remind this group a week out that you're going on vacation, and ask them to request anything they need from you at least three days before you leave. You are showing them empathy that their priorities are important, and giving them confidence that their needs will be met even with you going on vacation.

Time-block your calendar for the last three days before you leave for vacation to support other people's needs. Close all loops before you leave. Ensure there is nothing dependent on you or your memory while you're away.

Step #2 :: Find Someone to Be Your Vacation Shield 

Consistent with our fear of dropping the ball, is our worry that if we don’t keep an eye on our email/Slack/Teams/Text messages, the balls WILL drop. A Vacation Shield solves this.

A Vacation Shield is a person that can fully cover for you while you're gone, including responding to any messages that might come your way (and you in turn can return the favor when they head out of town). Notify your teammates and stakeholders that this person is covering for you, put it in an email auto-responder, add it to your voicemail, put in your Slack/Teams away message. Your Vacation Shield can then decide on any request if it's a true emergency and reach out to you. You don’t want anyone trying to reach out to you directly, only through your Vacation Shield.

You can then confidently avoid your email/Slack/Teams/Text messages, knowing that if it’s truly urgent, your Vacation Shield will call you, otherwise you are free to be on vacation.

Side note: buy your Vacation Shield something nice on vacation. They are giving you a great gift by doing this for you.

Step #3 :: Time-block Your Calendar for Re-entry Activities BEFORE You Leave 

72% of workers don’t even go on vacation just to avoid post vacation stress and anxiety. This step directly addresses this.

Time-block your calendar for the first two days back in the office BEFORE you leave. Focus on re-entry meetings with your key team members and stakeholders, ample time to clear your email/Slack/Teams/Test Messages. The goal is to get you back up to speed quickly like you never left, without setting heavy expectations for deliverables on your future self.

Knowing you have a good plan will reduce or eliminate your anxiety as you approach the end of your vacation, and give your key team members and stakeholders confidence that you’re back in the game and ready to support their needs.

Step #4 :: Log Out of EVERYTHING  

If any work thing can ping you, it will pull you out of vacation emotionally. You’ve done the work to close all loops, there’s no reason for you to check your work accounts while you’re away, and your Vacation Shield is there to handle anything for you anyway. 

As you leave, turn off your devices or log out of all work accounts. Only answer the phone if it's your Vacation Shield, who knows to only call you if the sky is falling.

Step #5 :: Vacation the Way you Want to Vacation 

You’ve done the work to create mental freedom on this vacation, now it’s time to enjoy it. Choose a life-giving schedule and activities that are going to fill you up, and drink it in deeply.

Step #6 :: Have a Day at Home to Reset Before You Go Back to Work 

A big idea of Time Boss is just doing one thing at a time, and it’s challenging to do this if you’ve got a stack of laundry, and piled up chores or errands. They will impact your ability to be fully present as you reenter work.

Give yourself a day at home before you get back to work. Do your laundry, run your errands, check the mail, clean your bathroom, be fully reset and ready to dive back in.

Step #7 :: Do What Your Time Boss Planned For You For Re-entry 

You did the work before you left to make it a smooth re-entry by time blocking your calendar. Simply run the plan your Time Boss created for you!

After you complete your reentry meetings with your key team members and stakeholders and process all your inboxes, you’ll have a clear picture of work priorities, and are ready to run a Weekly Planning Meeting to flesh out your schedule.

Restful Vacations Flow Out of the Time Boss Weekly Framework

Taking a vacation that truly restores you isn’t selfish. It’s a critical part of getting the results you want, without overwhelm. 

But what do you do with the rest of your time? That's where the Time Boss Weekly Framework can help you. It's a neuroscience-based approach to get the results you want without overwhelm, week after week after week. If you're curious, check out the Time Boss 90 Minute Masterclass to learn the framework and see if it would be a good fit for you.

If you've been following along for a while and you're ready to make a massive change, consider the Time Boss "Master Your Week" Course. In just 6 weeks, through accountability and coaching, you can engrain the Time Boss Weekly Framework, and experience powerful results like 30%+ increase in productivity, 4+ hours back a week, and increased peace/decreased stress. 

Your future self will thank you.