To Make Your Vacation a Stress Reliever Instead of Stress Producer

Me @ Eiffel Tower, Paris 

This post was inspire by those friends who are afraid taking vacation time, or for those who feel that their team or department will not be able to handle the workflow without them and therefore, they prefer to avoid taking vacations.

 I was there and it did not help me at all to think and manage my life that way so I now want to write this post for my friends that are going through that stage and also for myself too so in case I fail into it again.

This post is perfect for you if you have asked to yourself the following questions:

• Will my absence give my boss the idea that I am replaceable?
• Will I be out of the look when a crucial decision is made?
• Will I need to put extra hours preparing for my absence and then even more hours playing catch-up when I return? 

If your answers are yes in most of the above questions, here  I collected some useful information to make sure your next vacation is a stress reliever instead of a stress producer.  The following tips are divided in two main groups, one is the "Strategies" and the other group is the "Barriers to Overcome"

Strategies:

1. Reevaluate Downtime: There is a misconception about downtime (I am not going to get into what those are) but what is important is to understand that vacation time and the mind-body reset that goes along with it is critical to good job performance.  An Ernst & Young study found that the company's highest performers regularly took all their vacation time. 
2. Decide what's really crucial: Before you leave, meet with you boss, colleagues and subordinates to determine what you really need to handle before, during and after your absence and what you can delegate or push aside. 
3. Set boundaries: Make a point of leaving your work behind while on vacation. If you must keep in touch with the office each day or week, establish a specific time for checking emails and making calls.  Then put the phone and laptop away. 
4. Build in transition time: Schedule a free day at home to pack and unpack, and to easy the stress of take-off and reentry. 
5. Develop a kick-back habit:  Practice taking time for conscious rest and renewal during the workweek. This can make it easier to transition into vacation mode next time around.

Barriers to Overcome:

1. Fear of falling behind:  Everything in our culture is pulling us toward doing more and doing it faster. It is easy for us to feel that, if we fall behind, we will simply never catch up
2. Pride in overwork:  Sometimes we wear our exhaustion like a badge of honor
3. Confidence in connection: Being constantly hooked into the action help us feel important, even indispensable. Taking time off can leave us feeling insecure about our roles, contributions and value within the organization
4. Adrenaline addition:  The rush we get from stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol can be really habit forming.  There was an article that I read that says how studies show that the charge our brains get from opening an important email resembles a hit of cocaine”If we are going to be expected to unplug, even a little, the prospect of vacation may become te   rrifying. 
5. More work worries:  For many of us, taking time off involves intensive effort.  We know we will have finish to complete piles of work before we leave and then rush to catch up once we return.  The result: departure dread.