How I manage to turn off properly on vacation - 5 tips

How I manage to turn off properly on vacation - 5 tips

You surely remember your most beautiful vacation. I suppose that during this vacation you hardly thought about your work, so you turned it off as far as possible.

And that's how it should be. Because the holiday is there to switch off from everyday work. Recovery is the primary purpose.

Now this shutdown is not always easy and also depends on the type of work. For example, a businesswoman with all her daily chal- lenges and great responsibilities will find it harder to switch off than, for example, an employee for whom her day-to-day work consists mainly of routine tasks.

My experience:

The greater the daily professional challenges (and burdens), the harder it is to get rid of the head of working thoughts on vacation and switch it off.

Switch off: completely free from thoughts of work ...

5 tips for a relaxing and memorable holiday

Here are 5 tips to make it easier for me to switch off on holiday - maybe you too?

Something I have to send ahead:

I enjoy my work a lot. Nevertheless, it is important to steer the thoughts of work on vacation from the head, to start again with a renewed élan and fresh energy into the workday after the return.

Since my everyday work is not really stressful for me, the shutdown on vacation is perhaps easier for me than someone whose work is characterized by stress, hecticness and excessive demands and in which the stomach contracts at the thought of work.

1. Prevent professional information and communication

I stop the business communication - so no e-mails read / write, no business talks, but also no technical contributions or other pertinent information consume. Because a single call, an e-mail and professional reading material and I'm with the thoughts back at work and the recreational effect is impaired.

In order to enable this separation, some measures are necessary before the holiday starts:

For example, I deactivated all push functions on the smartphone (automatic notifications about the receipt of an e-mail, a Twitter mention, Facebook, etc.). So on vacation, I'm not prompted by any messages to check the smartphone for entrances and "lose" myself in it.
Of course, an absence report is also set up to inform senders about the time of my return. (Here I have compiled templates for a vacation notice.)
I also inform business partners with whom I am primarily in contact by telephone that I am not available by phone during my absence.
As mentioned above, I do not read any technical papers or other pertinent information during my holidays that would otherwise keep me up to date on a regular basis. On the other hand, I dedicate myself to more books, for which I usually find less time - that's my holiday reading.

One more word about the "digital dependency":

The permanent online connection is a seducer par excellence for many even on vacation: quickly check e-mails, a new status message from Facebook has come in, what is happening on Twitter ...? This list could be continued. And yes, the smartphone can also "destroy" beautiful moments, as the videos in this article show: does the smartphone destroy beautiful moments?

This can be counteracted with conscious offline walking, at least during the holiday season. That may take some getting used to for one or the other. However, if the offline state is perceived as a burden and the resulting discomfort is greater than the recovery effect, then it is probably on some dependence close (tips on this: 3 apps against the smartphone addiction).

2. New environment

The holiday in a new environment - in a place where I've never been before - is ideal for me to switch off. Of course, there are also many places and places that I know and where I can relax wonderfully. But a new feel-good environment contributes a little more to the shutdown, because the senses are fed with many new, even surprising impressions.

From my album: small mountain lake Lech Sant, S. Cristina in Val Gardena, South Tyrol

3. Personal premieres

Particularly first-time experiences and undertakings - quasi personal premieres - seem to me like a barrier against burgeoning work ideas.

Whether a riding trip, a mountain running, a paragliding tandem flight, watching the sunrise on a mountain peak, a multi-day hike, getting to know new people and cultures, an overnight under the starry sky - all extraordinary and unforgettable experiences that will last for a long time.

That's why I try to plan pleasant, exciting, entertaining, educational and / or challenging initial ventures during my holiday - a few personal premieres that will help to keep this holiday in your memory for a long time to come.

4. Common experiences

Most of us spend more time at work than people we care about and love.

That's why it's important for me to spend my holidays with my loved ones. Such experiences promote the bond and provide common memories together. I also found a fitting quote from the Austrian actor Paul Hörbiger (1894-1981):

For pleasant memories you have to worry in advance.

Of course, it can also be good to spend a few days alone, for example, to gain new ideas or clarity without distractions and with a little distance.

5. Outsource work ideas

The head is free, relaxation is spreading - and it is this condition that often causes me to come up with good ideas, a solution to a challenge, or an idea of ​​an important post-holiday task.

These thoughts then wander around in my head and interfere with the shutdown on vacation. To prevent this, I use the voice recording function of my smartphone, which I always have with me anyway. So if a work idea, an idea, an upcoming task comes to my mind, I simply speak it on my smartphone. This relieves immediately!

Conclusion

Switch off at work on vacation - everyone succeeds in his own individual way, or not. The tips mentioned have proven to me. To sum up the whole thing in one sentence:

I'd better turn it off when I spend the holidays in a new / different environment, doing something new with my loved ones, shelling off any professional communication and information and sticking to any (professional) ideas / thoughts on my smartphone.

Furthermore, the following has been confirmed for me:

The greater the (positive) contrast to everyday life, the greater the recreational effect and the easier it will be for me to switch off on vacation.

Finally, a trick, so that the recovery effect gained does not fizzle on the first day after the return of the holiday