Disconnecting to reconnect

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/06/2023 (851 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Summer is right around the corner. People are starting to settle into the seductions of relaxation, picnics and generally taking it easy. This is normal — especially in Manitoba, where the long, warm days are so precious after our cold winters.

I am an enormous fan of employees taking vacations. It is so important to get away from work, spend unhurried time with loved ones, recharge, and gain new perspectives (especially if they are from the vantage point of a hammock).

Yet many people have fallen into a pattern of working while on vacation. We are all too used to packing our laptops in our carry-ons and checking email on the beach. The pandemic and our subsequent hybrid work environments have blurred the lines between work and home even more, creating a situation where it can be a challenge for people to truly, effectively unplug.

Last year, Ontario passed a bill protecting an employee’s right to disconnect from work. The bill prevents managers from contacting employees who are not actively working.

While it is an innovative step, it does not need to be legislated for organizations to take the principle of disconnecting to heart. A simple right to disconnect policy can change the power dynamic between managers and employees — reassuring employers that projects and tasks will not fall behind when staff are on vacation, and empowering employees to work only when they are on the clock.

Employers who draw a firm line in the sand, set realistic expectations and foster a culture of work/life balance for their employees will build a culture of respect in the workplace that goes far beyond bugging staff members at the beach.

These simple shifts will result in greater loyalty and higher satisfaction, as employees choose their degree of work commitment and managers honour their staff’s personal needs for rest, relaxation and recharging.

Plan not to work, work the plan

As a vacationing employee, there are some simple preparations you can make to shed work worries and truly enjoy your time off.

Besides the obvious one of letting co-workers know you are leaving in advance and covering off your time-sensitive tasks, there are a few things you can do to set up for your vacation so that you can fully take time away.

First, select a designated second-in-command a few weeks before you leave and show them your process. Encourage them to ask questions and type out workflows that need strict adherence. This gives your temporary replacement time to absorb the scope of tasks and ensure they have access to files, contacts, and anything else they will need.

Second, move your own mindset from feeling like you’re leaving a cohort with extra duties to creating a learning opportunity for the person filling in for you.

Exposing co-workers to the machinations of your job can improve their understanding of their own role and improve how you can best work together. It is not good for anyone to be the only person who can do certain responsibilities — that is a sure path to a panicked phone call while on vacation! Commission a culture of cross-training throughout the year, where multiple people understand the basics of crucial tasks.

Third, let it go. Accept that someone filling in for you will not do the exact same as what you would have done most of the time — and that is fine. Different often just means different, not better or worse. If you attempt to control what is happening at the office from a chaise lounge or faraway bistro, you will add stress to both yourself and your co-worker doing the best they can to fill your shoes while you are gone.

Finally, if your role requires that you cannot be completely unavailable for an entire vacation, designate set times to check in — but limit the interactions… and stick to the plan. Remember, time off is earned and vacation belongs to you. Relish it without guilt.

Cultivate your inner ant

Now that you have cut loose from your day job and are purely on vacation, it may be advantageous to sneak in some professional development. This is not working. It is learning something new on a personal level to help you long-term in your career.

There is an Aesop’s fable about an ant and a grasshopper. The ant works all summer, storing away food and making endless preparations, while the grasshopper generally loafs around enjoying the sun and living in the moment, making no preparations for the coming winter.

Like most old-fashioned stories, the result is rather harsh: with the onset of cold weather, the ant refuses to give the hungry grasshopper any food, and you can imagine how the tale ends.

The moral is stark: There is a time for work and a time for play.

Despite the fable, it does not have to be an all-or-nothing summer. Often, joy comes with accomplishment, as well as with rest and fun. Think about carving out a few hours when you would otherwise be doing another crossword puzzle and dust off your personal laptop.

What can you do to make you less stressed, more powerful, and set you up to succeed at your job when your vacation ends and you do go back to work?

I know, you have memories of the dreaded summer reading list from school. But now that you are an adult, you can pick. It could be an Excel course to alleviate frustration, or maybe you can become Google certified and pivot to a more sustainable career path.

There are many free or affordable courses online to help you feel accomplished and ready for the future. Whatever it is, think about your career ambitions and break them down into digestible bites (that you can chew on while your barbecue smoker is cooking or your kids are running through the sprinkler) to help you move ahead in life.

Another option to prepare you for the road ahead is to brush up your resumé. Our recruiters are always finding people who are not actively looking for work but are interested in hearing about new opportunities. Having a current resumé is great if you are suddenly asked to apply for a dream job or decide to put your name forward for a side hustle, like speaking at a conference. Summer is the perfect time to do this — when you have some distance from your job to distil and refine what you do down to a few bullet points.

Both/and

Just like there are people who go on vacation to nap on the beach and others who jam pack their itineraries with museums and historic sites, there are lots of different and fulfilling ways to spend your energy away from work.

So, when you make a plan this summer about how best to leverage your hard-earned time off, think about choosing both/and. You can both enjoy a relaxing unplug from the daily distraction of work and set your sights on accomplishing some doable activities to bring you closer to your overall career goals.

Moderation and balance are a good recipe for incremental, steady success.

Tory McNally, CPHR, BSc., Vice President, HR Consulting is a human resource professional, radio personality, speaker, and problem solver. She can be reached at tory@legacybowes.com.