Blog 55:  Why do I always work on my holiday?  Here’s how to take a vacation and sharpen the saw – as you step towards Easter

woman looking stressed

We’re a month away from Easter and for nearly all of us there is a long weekend waiting.  And maybe for some, this might be the time for your annual vacation.  Many of you have shared you don’t like working on your vacation . . . and especially when those close to you comment on that. So, i thought the season might make for a good time to encourage you to make the most of vacations and to find balance.  Some of you have roles where you feel like you are a baker who lives above the bakery shop and can never get away from work.  The aim of this blog is to help you get that break you deserve.  But to do this, can i encourage you to think not just about the time off, but also your transition into holidays. 

Before we start, let’s categorise the vacation into two types.  First, some will enjoy a long weekend, a short but significant break from the whirlwind of work.  The second category is your annual leave.  For some, the Easter weekend forms part of that longer vacation.  This blog will try to help you make the most of the long weekends and next week we’ll focus on your annual leave.  But with either . . . the aim is how to use your vacation as leverage to be more effective at work, in your family and the community. 

Making the most of a long weekend

Prevacation:  Stepping into vacation takes thought and planning (recurrent theme eh?).  This is why i write this to you a month out from Easter.  How are you going to step into this long weekend?  What do you need to do in the next few weeks so you can refresh over Easter?  Commit a brainstormed list to paper, find a quiet place and a coffee and work on this list.  Break up the big jobs into smaller easily achievable parts.  Take the jobs and allocate them into what must get done before Easter, (‘must dos’) what you’d like to get done before Easter, what can wait till your return from vacation, and what would be a bonus.  Now this is a bit different to the normal rhythms of prioritizing.  This is about getting to vacation feeling released of work – knowing it’s all under control.  And before you finish that coffee . . . take a moment to frame the holiday.  What will that look like?  What fills your emotional tank?  Frame the recharge holiday.  Give yourself permission to unwind. 

Take a coffee break to reflect, plan and frame the break

Now, work on those ‘must dos’ and demolish that list.  Find yourself in the midst of ‘like tos’ and with most of the ‘must dos’ behind you.  You’re well on the way to releasing yourself into vacation. 

A week out:  Time to take another assessment.  Run through the same prioritizing process mentioned in ‘Prevacation’ but this time, be more brutal.  You may only have four days to clear those ‘have tos’. Deliberately plan to do some of the ‘like tos’ after Easter.  You’ll feel more released just knowing things are in place and tasks will be reached in good time.  Try and aim for a soft landing to your Easter break (don’t go hard, ease yourself into the vacation).  Can you leave early on Thursday afternoon, even if it’s only 15 minutes early?  This little decision can make you feel like you’ve picked up another half a day’s holiday.  Maybe start early to gain this time. 

Another coffee break – this time to make sure you can go on a break, free from thoughts of work

And you’ve finished work!

woman lying on a hammock enjoying the beach on her holiday

Over Easter:  Break the routines.  Lean into those spaces that fill your emotional tank.  We’re all so different, but what fills you?  Time with family and friends, exercise, reading a good book.  Let yourself go and be kind to yourself.  Find yourself in the healthy spaces, read or watch movies that take your brain far away from work (it’s only a short holiday).  You’ve worked hard to get to this point, let go of work and fill your tank.  If you do find your brain thinking about work, keep a note pad and jot down the things that run through your head.  They can stay in the book until Monday morning.  Feel released and go back to not thinking and relaxing.  The good thing about the Easter break is it is a time when much of the western world has shut down and enjoying the long weekend, so no need to check those e mails or worry about what’s happening at the office.  Have the break you deserve. 

Sharpen the saw . . . by having a break

woman lying on a  beach enjoying her holiday

And if you do get chance to have some thinking time, here’s a couple of ideas:

Assess your new holiday process:  What worked?  What didn’t work?  How will you transition to holidays next time?  Scribble down the times you mind went to work so you can capture it for better analysis next time you are stepping into vacation.  Learn to do a ‘head dump’.  What drew your attention?  How can you circumvent that next time?  This information will help you continue to shape better holidays into the future.  Remember, real change is the sum of many small changes.

And here’s a good question:  What’s a rich life look like?  Massage?  Pedicure? Chasing good coffee?  Watching sport?  Losing yourself in a book?  You might be surprised.  It’s often not the expensive items but the small treats where you are kind to yourself.  How can you shape a rich life? 

Come Monday afternoon or evening (before work recommencing on Tuesday), turn your attention back to work.  Take time again to run through what returning back to work looks like.  Think, plan, reflect. 

So place these reflection times in your diary

  1. A time this week
  2. A time a week out
  3. Easter Monday

You have about three weeks to your Easter vacation.  Step into this break and make the most of it.

And over Easter remember . . . Jesus Christ rose from the grave . . . you can’t keep a good man down.   

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