Out of office: How to prepare for vacation from work
The thought of taking a week-long vacation used to stress me out. A lot.
While I’m an organized person, I used to worry about who would handle the unexpected client and media requests while I was away. I’d also feel guilty for asking my coworkers to cover for me in case something popped up. If I knew a tentative project was in a pipeline, I’d also try to schedule my vacation around it “just in case.”
It wasn’t until I went on a cruise a few years ago that showed me I could unplug and take a worry-free vacation. There’s also something nice about being in the middle of the ocean without internet connection or cell reception. Plus, my amazing coworkers kept things moving while I was away.
Going on a week-long unplugged vacation taught me a few things about taking time off from work:
With a little planning, you can take a stress-free, email-free vacation.
Work will be there when you return.
You’ve got coworkers who will graciously cover for you if something pops up.
You deserve to rest.
I’m a strong believer in avoiding burning the midnight oil at all costs, especially before I leave on vacation, and hopefully I can help you do the same. That’s why I’m sharing some things I’ve learned over the years that have helped me prepare for time off from work.
Read on for my six-week approach to preparing for vacation from work.
Six weeks out
I am a planner at heart and I typically give my team at least a month or more heads up if I’m taking a week off from work.
When I approach the “vacation’s just a little over a month away” mark on my calendar, I begin taking a look at everything that’s due between now and when I turn my autoresponder on.
First, I review deadlines in Trello (which is the project management tool my team uses) to see what’s in the pipeline for the next six weeks. I also look at deadlines that land after vacation so I can have a full picture of what needs to be prepared or completed before I leave. This helps minimize any post-vacation surprises.
Once I have an idea of what needs to be accomplished, I create a master to-do list of everything that needs to get done with deadlines. I use Trello for my master to-do list, but you can use a Word document, notebook or any tool that works for you.
(Update: Since this blog post was written in August 2021, I’ve switched from Trello to Asana and follow a similar approach for managing my work!)
Four weeks out
By now, I have a good picture of what needs to get done in the month leading up to vacation and I’m chipping away at my to-do list.
This is also around the time when I start letting coworkers know I’ll be going on vacation in a few weeks. I also look at any projects that will require approvals from other team members before I go, so I can build in time for the approval process.
Two weeks out
Two weeks before vacation, I’ll check in with my master to-do list to gauge my progress. This is usually around the time when I figure out if there’s anything I need help with when I’m out of the office.
Week before vacation
I try to keep the week before vacation as stress-free as possible because by now, my brain is probably on vacation mode. Hopefully, if I stayed on track with my deadlines over the past few weeks, the week before vacation is focused on tying up loose ends, pulling together a mini vacation memo if needed and asking coworkers to cover any tasks if necessary. (I try to give coworkers at least a week’s heads up if I need help with anything — because no one wants to be overwhelmed with a project the day before you leave.)
By working ahead, this also allows me to create time for anything that might pop the week before vacation. That way, I don’t feel the pressure of a growing to-do list right before vacation.
Last day in the office before vacation
Once upon a time, the day before vacation I was in the office until 7 p.m. preparing everything and finishing up final deadlines. Thankfully, over the past few years, I’ve gotten a hang of vacation prep and now I can usually leave work on time and switch to vacation mode.
Unless anything unexpected popped up during the week, I use this last day to continue finishing up loose ends, set up my out of office reply and send any additional reminders to coworkers about my vacation.
With a little bit of planning, getting ready for vacation can feel less stressful at work. When you take a look at the big picture and break your projects down into manageable deadlines, you’ll be knocking out tasks and turning on your autoresponder before you can say “I’m on vacay!”
