I can’t speak for you, however I can assure you that I am incredibly bad at taking time off and just switching off from work. To clarify on this point, work embraces my corporate job, my start-up and all the other mini-endeavors I’m engaged on. This in turn means that I am equally bad at taking proper holidays. I lost half my legal holidays the first year of working for HP, but that is because I chose to work. My issue is that I can not turn off my mind from that entrepreneurial mindset. My mind is always busy thinking about efficiency, motivation, the next project, supporting an employee in some cause, the code that needs to get done, the “what-if’s” of executing on something, planning things and so forth.
It’s just to difficult to shut down. However this is something I have been learning over the past year. We need to shut down and get away from certain environments to be able to “be in the moment” and do what we are doing right then and there. This I executed on very well last week when I had a surprise 4 days off for a get-away my fiance planned for my birthday.
I have begun making certain rules for myself in order to help me take proper holidays, switch off and get some rest. Here some of my tips on how to take them regardless of what you do;
1. Book trips ahead of time and have it all planned out. This makes it more difficult to back out or delay trips for any reason.
2. Fill your days with a tremendous amount of activities. This serves as a distraction from you having to find a spot to open your notebook and work.
3. When you are out on day trips leave your smartphone in the hotel safe. I know this is a hard one because it is really convenient having things like Google maps and search to help you out, but not having it around forces you to stay disconnected. If you really need it with you (say for safety reasons), than commit to not opening your inbox and workflow tools.
4. Leave the notebook at home. This way you are guaranteed to not do any work. Take a tablet, but doing real work on a tablet is inefficient (unless of course you are using a Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Tablet along with the keyboard)
5. Go some place where you have no broadband access and the i-net is so slow that it really pulls on your nerves, forcing you to head outdoors.
6. Read actual books. I love my tablet. I have it loaded with books and purchased magazines to flip through while travelling. Simply turn off the wifi and mobile data options and you are good to go.
I dont proclaim to be the expert in switching off during holidays, but my blueprint has definitely helped me in the challenge and thus has allowed me to come back refreshed, which in the end end is the purpose of the holiday to start with, no?
What are things you do? Let me know because I’m confident there are lots of thing I could still do in the area…