Don’t Forget to Plan to Unplug, When Planning Your Vacation!

A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking. - Earl Wilson

It’s June, school is out, temperatures are rising, and it may be time to plan a relaxing get away. We all know that vacations are a healthy way to recharge our batteries and refresh our spirits. However, with that said, according to an Expedia survey, American workers left approximately 448 million unused vacation days, or close to $68 billion worth of relaxing, re-invigorating, family and fun moments in their cubicles and offices in 2009, and only 38 percent planned to take all of their vacation days last year.  

These findings are understandable in these difficult economic times, but I also anticipate there are other issues influencing vacation decisions:

• the "they can’t do without me" attitude held by workaholics and individuals who see themselves as more valuable than they really may be
• options available to workers to not use vacation days; i.e., trade in for pay
• the strange "happiness" Americans seem to get out of working more so than any other global work group
• co-worker pressure with regard to picking up the slack while someone is gone

Whatever the reason, organizations should encourage workers to look beyond those issues and take some kind of meaningful break from work. It’s important for each individual, and we certainly see the positive results re-energized workers have on improving workplace performance, quality and productivity.

Whether you are planning a vacation or a "staycation" (time off from work to stay at home) this summer, one of the most important elements in your planning for a relaxing time to renew your spirit is to unplug.

This Is Your Brain on Computers
More and more research is being conducted on the impact 24/7 technological stimulations have on rewiring the way our brains function. According to a NY Times article by Matt Richtel, "scientists report that juggling e-mails, phone calls, and other incoming information can change how people think and behave. They say our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information which play to a primitive impulse to respond to immediate opportunities and threats. The stimulation provides excitement – a dopamine squirt – that researchers say can be addictive. In its absence, people feel bored."

Consider your attachment to emails, Blackberry, iPhone, IM, Facebook, LinkedIn, iPad, Sykpe, the list goes on….. Depending on your level of need to be connected with these technologies, it’s understandable why an ‘unplugging strategy’ should be a critical part of your vacation planning. Just like any addiction, (that’s what researchers are calling our anxiety and need to check these devices) trying to stop "cold turkey" is difficult, if not impossible. The key to success is in the planning.

Planning To Unplug
Accepting the fact that we all have some degree of addiction to these devices and the stimulation we receive from them justifies the need to include some special considerations in the vacation planning process. Be serious and purposeful about developing an unplugging strategy that will work for you, and provide you with as much isolation from work activities as possible.

CNN recently completed a series addressing this specific issue - No Vacation Nation. In addition to the strategies listed below, check out their articles for tips and techniques that will help you reprogram your behaviors and allow you to improve your abilities to be present where ever your vacation travels take you, and with whom ever you are enjoying them.

• Initiative Dialogues with your boss, team members and stakeholders to engage them in sharing insights and observations about what key issues will need to be addressed during your time away and how they can take care of those issues with no or limited availability from you.  This strategy helps you clarify your intentions as well as what’s hot, while allowing others the opportunity to step up and expand their roles and responsibilities. You may be surprised that they don’t need you as much as you thought they did.
• Ease into your new routine at least a week or so before your departure date. Set up an away message that notifies e-mailers and callers that you will not be checking messages after a certain hour, and that you will get back to them in the morning. It’s appropriate to invite them to contact you or a backup person should there be an emergency.  This strategy allows you to practice not reaching for the Blackberry, laptop, Iphone, iPad, etc. You can begin to wind down the amount of stimuli you are craving and turn your focus to the vacation plans and packing. After all, an important part of the vacation is the anticipation of what you’ll be seeing and doing – don’t miss out on that!  When the time comes, update all away messages providing contact information to the person filling in for you.
• Professional development is an important part of every job. In addition to on-the-job training and mentoring, stepping in while you are on vacation is a great way for a colleague to get the real feel and experience of the job.  Cross-functional training is an important strategy for any organization. Use vacation planning time as a re-enforcement for workers to demonstrate their understanding, expertise and abilities to step in should there be an emergency or advancement opportunity. 
• It’s all about you - create a reasonable plan that you can honor. If it’s too impossible for you to leave the technology behind, create a schedule that’s workable for you and your travel companions. Just like planning your meetings and work projects, plan for those times when you might (if you think of it, or have time) "check in." But show discipline – remember your goal is to be as disconnected as possible.  If you feel you need it, allow yourself a brief opportunity to check in and delegate messages to others. Perhaps a half-hour after lunch and an hour before dinner would do. Whatever the schedule, don’t expand it. Honor what you negotiated with yourself and let that be it.  Doug Gross from CNN shares this strategy, "Before leaving on vacation a radio show caller shared that he gives all his passwords and user names to trusted friends. One person gets e-mail, another Twitter, etc. They’re under orders on the day he leaves to go in and change the passwords; and when he returns, they change them back." If this is what it takes for you – do it.
• Practicing the art of mindfulness can assist with reducing the urge to ‘check-in’. Being in the present moment at all times and not letting your mind wander away with distractions helps people relax and enjoy their vacation. Here’s a great article by Jay Dixit from Psychology Today to get you started on developing your mindfulness skills. 
• Plan for your return. Most researchers find that individuals get anxious the night before returning to work from a vacation, anticipating what will be stacked up and waiting for them. With this in mind, plan for this type of situation, should it occur for you, by allowing a few hours before you go to bed to review and prioritize what needs to be addressed the first morning you are back.  Even before you leave on vacation, plan for your first day back to be a catch-up day and avoid scheduling meetings, calls, appointments or other commitments that will take you away from easing back into your groove. 
• Be conscious about your privacy. Just a side note while we’re talking about unplugging: Don’t post your vacation plans, dates, locations, etc. on Facebook; this is like an open invitation to criminals. If you feel compelled to let the world know the details of your vacation, wait until you return.
• These strategies work for family members as well. More and more research is being published about the addiction children are showing to video games, Facebook, computers, texting, etc. As you plan for and model your self-control over technologies you have a great opportunity to also engage the entire family in the process. There could be some great learning here for everyone.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy the unplugged experience so much you’ll periodically revisit it. Learning to moderate technologies, just like you do your intake of other substances and activities that we know can be harmful to our health, is a healthy strategy for everyone impacted by increasing technological demands.

So What’s Next?
The world continues to spin faster and workers are increasingly seduced by the instanteousness and connectedness of ever-advancing technologies. It appears to me that it’s time for HR and IT to not only ensure we receive training on how to use the new technologies effectively in order to do our jobs more efficiently, but to also teach us the skills and techniques for managing our mental and physical health while using these tools.

Linked with these training responsibilities also comes the importance of establishing a culture that values vacation times, unplugging strategies, and healthy management of technology tools. Robots can work 24/7 – people can not.

I’m not an advocate of disconnecting forever, but I personally can share that I have found giving myself permission to disengage after 6:30p in order to spend time with my husband and provide myself with some "quiet time" has been very helpful in managing workplace stress. As I plan an upcoming vacation, I too will be trying to unplug and have some quality re-energizing time. I know it won’t be easy, but including this component into the planning process will give me a higher probability of success.

What do you think about unplugging for periodic breaks or vacations? What works for you? What role, if any, should HR and IT play in improving our knowledge about the pros and cons of working with technology devices?  Please share your ideas and comments below.

Getting Workaholics to Unplug