How Youre Sabotaging Your Vacation From Work - The Muse

How Youre Sabotaging Your Vacation From Work - The MuseHow Youre Sabotaging Your Vacation From Work Weve all been there, right? That long-awaited trip youve been planning for months has finally arrived, your inbox is (more or less) under control, and youre ready for some well-deserved down time. Except theres just one problem- once you sit down for your first breath of relaxation, something comes over you, and its just impossible to disengage from your typical tasks. Everyone has a story or two about a vacation that turned into a workcation that eventually turned into just, well, work. There are some blatant ways youre letting this happen, but there are also, some more surprising ways youre sabotaging your time off. 1. Youre Forgetting Your Out-of-Office NotificationOne of the most satisfying parts of leaving the office for a little while is that moment when you get to set your out-of-office schmelzglas responder. Right? Well, if youre anything like me, you can think of a few occasio ns on which you forgot to do yourself the favor of turning it on before you leave. Or, if were honest, its more like youre forgetting. I bet it has something to do with the fact that you just know important things are going to happen while youre away, clients are still going to want quick responses, and you just cant live without reading the weekly company update email. Of course leaving an out-of-office notification wont be the one thing that stops you from checking email during vacation, but heres the thing- you probably know that most people you work with will respect it when they see it. So, if youre leaving without turning that on, youre only making it harder to enjoy your time off.2. Youre Giving Your Teammates Your Cell Phone NumberHey, I get it. You do some pretty impressive, and at times, critical things at work. And youd hate to lose track of whats going on, even if that means your days off arent quite as refreshing as they should be. But heres a mistake I made once. On my way out for a birthday weekend a few years ago, I emailed my teammates my cell phone number and said, If anything comes up, feel free to text me. And while youd think most people would say not to worry about it, if you give people an extra option to get in touch with you, the odds are that they will take you up on the offer. I know youre just trying to be a good teammate, but often the only person who will ensure that youre taking is a break is you. So, if you go out of your way to make yourself available during your time off, dont be surprised if youre suddenly taking calls and answering emails instead of enjoying whats supposed to be a relaxing week. 3. Youre Not Including Your Time Just Before Bed as Time OffIts pretty tempting to say to yourself, Eh, Im about to go to sleep anyway. I might as well check in on whats been happening. Thats schwimmbad enough when youre not on a break, but when youre on an actual vacation from work, its even worse. Think about what youre setting you rself up for by checking in just before you settle in for the night. Youll start thinking about all the things you have waiting for you when you get back. Which will affect how you sleep. Which will change how you approach the next day. And if youre anything like me, youll drop everything and hop onto the nearest laptop to make sure everything at work is fine. But if you wind this back to the beginning, you couldve avoided all of this if you only avoided checking your inbox the night before. Remember, youre on vacation. If you want to wind down with bad reality TV shows or a terrible gossip magazine, go right ahead. Just as long as you dont end the night with a quick scan of the latest messages. I know that taking a taking time off isnt always as easy as it sounds, especially when you know that you have a lot to get done. But youve worked hard all year, and if youve been responsible and made sure that everything is in order before you head out for your break, go ahead and enjoy it. Youve earned the right to unplug for a little while, so dont make it even harder on yourself to take a breather from your work. If you give yourself the time you need to recharge, youll only be better for it when the time comes to head back into the office. Photo of person on vacation courtesy of Marc Romanelli/Getty Images.