How to Actually Step Back From Work on Holidays
The holiday season is a special time of year when you can relax, spend time with your family and … answer emails from your boss and flip through Slack notifications. No, not this year! If you are taking a break this holiday season – a real break – it should also include a break from work. However, technology can make this harder than it should be, no matter how strong your determination. Here are some tips to make the disconnection smoother and more complete.
Don’t use your work technique (unless you need to)
Phones, laptops, tablets, etc. – If it is used for work, do not use it. Don’t open it, don’t look at it. Of course, all you set out to do was watch a funny YouTube video on your work laptop, but as soon as you open it, a thread of messages and requests pops up that could definitely wait until New Years. So if you are going on a trip, leave these devices intact. If you are staying at home, put them in a drawer. Give yourself a chance to compete here.
This is not possible for everyone. Your work phone can also be your personal phone, or your work laptop can be your only computer. If so, you can try the rest of the tips to restrict access to work notifications. However, the advice is still valid; if you don’t need to use your work technique for a holiday, don’t.
Take important files or applications before taking a break
Because of this, be sure to grab from these work devices any apps, photos, videos, or other files you need during your break before starting your vacation. This way, you can put your devices away or leave them on while having all the information you need.
Did your coworker send you a funny Slack link? Bookmark before subscribing. Think you would like to see the holiday party photos someone emailed the team? Download them now. You don’t want to open these apps or devices to retrieve these things if you don’t need to.
Disable notifications for work apps
Of course, sometimes our work equipment is combined with our personal technology. If you’re using the Works app on your smartphone or personal laptop, turn off their notifications before heading to R&R.
I see a lot of comments about how Microsoft Teams alert sounds are triggered, and you may feel the same way about other iconic sounds in various work apps. You don’t want them to break any part of your break. Who knows; you may find the lack of notifications so peaceful that you decide never to turn them on again.
Use Focus Mode (iOS only)
If you’re using an iPhone, you can take full advantage of the new iOS 15 Focus feature to completely lock your work apps and contacts from your vacation plans. Just create a Focus that blocks notifications from Slack, Gmail, coworkers you don’t want to talk to, and more, and then turn it on for the duration of your vacation.
You can learn more about how to create a Focus from our guide here .
Set your statuses accordingly
It would be embarrassing to disconnect from your work apps and devices just for an uninformed coworker to ping and call you anyway. To avoid this scenario, make sure you make it clear you are on vacation.If you use chat apps like sag or command, set your status to say you are out of the office.
The same can be said for email; Remember to set up an automatic reply so anyone trying to reach you via email knows what you are doing. Once again, make sure your weekends also appear on your work calendar so your team knows when you are leaving and when you are returning.
Turn off the alarm!
Oh boy it sucks to forget. It’s the first Monday of vacation and your phone starts buzzing and chirping on your usual wake-up time at 6 a.m. What should have been a great sleep in the morning is now ruined. Before heading out for your break, check the watch app on your phone to turn off any of these alarms until you get back to work.
Now, perhaps you are not the only one to be aware of these alarms; smartphones are getting smarter and you might see a suggestion to turn off an upcoming alarm if you have a vacation on your calendar. However, it is worth double-checking.