"Holiday" – a day or period of rest and recreation, a period of time spent away from home for recreation.

I’m starting work earlier, finishing later and skipping what lunch break (if you can call it that) I used to take. These last two weeks are manic. Why? Well, it’s because it’s nearly that time again when schools break up, roads and airports get clogged, tempers get frayed and the sun shines! I’m going on my holiday! By the time it arrives I’m frazzled, shattered and can’t wait. Finally we’re off, I can breathe a sigh of relief. For the first couple of days (as long as they are a weekend) I don’t even think about work – well, maybe only a bit. By day 3, withdrawal symptoms – or is it insecurity about my role at work? If they can manage without me for two weeks maybe they’ll realise they don’t need me; someone will be doing my job. I’d better just check my emails, phone in to prove they can’t do without me…And so the voice gets going, beating me up about taking a holiday, the holiday that I’ve worked and saved hard for, the holiday ‘thought’ that has kept me going at work. Now I’m sneaking off to check my emails, withdrawal symptoms kicking in. By day 3 or 4 my body is finally responding to the slower pace, regular food, drink and time to think. In fact so much so that I’m starting to feel ill, no energy, don’t want to do anything. I never feel like this when I’m at work. What’s wrong with me? Maybe if I do some work, respond to emails it will take my mind off it and I’ll feel better?

 

 

We work hard all year for that two-week break relaxing, away from it all. So how come so many of us feel guilty about going on holiday? More and more of us don’t even take our full holiday entitlement from work. Can you believe that? Do you take your mobile phone, blackberry or computer on holiday with you, kidding yourself that you won’t answer any work calls or emails?

 

Holidays used to be proper holidays (see definition above) where work was out of reach, left behind, forgotten and you had a chance to recharge your batteries. That’s the point of holidays, to give you time to relax, de-stress, recuperate, re-create yourself so that you return fresh, alive and with all cylinders firing. Think of your body like a car. If a car was never serviced, always on the move, or the engine kept idling, never switched off, it would eventually start to falter, splutter and finally die.

Can you imagine what it would be like to go on holiday and never think of work? You can’t? Then you need a serious rethink about your life!

 

The good news is that it is possible by doing a few basic things:

·         Make sure two weeks in advance that people connected with work know that you are going away and give them a deadline of five days before you go if they need anything from you.

·         As soon as you have booked your leave block it out in your diary, on your computer and tell key people.

·         The day before you go on leave block out the entire day so that you are not available for meetings. Put a message on your email letting people know that you are unable to respond as you are unavailable all day. That way you are not left with last minute tasks or action points. You have a day to clear up loose ends, pass over vital bits of information.

·         Tell people you are going to a remote area where it is unlikely you’ll be able to get a mobile signal or internet connection – so you won’t be contactable.

·         Every night for at least a week before you go lie in bed and imagine watching yourself doing everything you would normally do before leaving work each night: switching off the computer, tidying your desk, walking out the door and it closing behind you. Then imagine yourself completely relaxed, maybe on a beach somewhere or just sinking comfortably into your favourite chair, see everything you’ll see, hear everything you’ll hear and feel how good it is to be this relaxed.

·         Tell ‘that voice’ when it gets going to shut up, or imagine a big switch in your head which you can use to turn it off!

·         Give yourself permission to check out from your daily life for the period of your holiday. Ask yourself, what’s the worse thing that could happen? And if that’s the worse thing that could happen, is it really a life or death situation? Because if you don’t give your body chance to relax on holiday it might just be!

 

 

 

 "Holiday" – a day or period of rest and recreation, a period of time spent away from home for recreation.

I’m starting work earlier, finishing later and skipping what lunch break (if you can call it that) I used to take. These last two weeks are manic. Why? Well, it’s because it’s nearly that time again when schools break up, roads and airports get clogged, tempers get frayed and the sun shines! I’m going on my holiday! By the time it arrives I’m frazzled, shattered and can’t wait. Finally we’re off, I can breathe a sigh of relief. For the first couple of days (as long as they are a weekend) I don’t even think about work – well, maybe only a bit. By day 3, withdrawal symptoms – or is it insecurity about my role at work? If they can manage without me for two weeks maybe they’ll realise they don’t need me; someone will be doing my job. I’d better just check my emails, phone in to prove they can’t do without me…And so the voice gets going, beating me up about taking a holiday, the holiday that I’ve worked and saved hard for, the holiday ‘thought’ that has kept me going at work. Now I’m sneaking off to check my emails, withdrawal symptoms kicking in. By day 3 or 4 my body is finally responding to the slower pace, regular food, drink and time to think. In fact so much so that I’m starting to feel ill, no energy, don’t want to do anything. I never feel like this when I’m at work. What’s wrong with me? Maybe if I do some work, respond to emails it will take my mind off it and I’ll feel better?

 

 

We work hard all year for that two-week break relaxing, away from it all. So how come so many of us feel guilty about going on holiday? More and more of us don’t even take our full holiday entitlement from work. Can you believe that? Do you take your mobile phone, blackberry or computer on holiday with you, kidding yourself that you won’t answer any work calls or emails?

 

Holidays used to be proper holidays (see definition above) where work was out of reach, left behind, forgotten and you had a chance to recharge your batteries. That’s the point of holidays, to give you time to relax, de-stress, recuperate, re-create yourself so that you return fresh, alive and with all cylinders firing. Think of your body like a car. If a car was never serviced, always on the move, or the engine kept idling, never switched off, it would eventually start to falter, splutter and finally die.

Can you imagine what it would be like to go on holiday and never think of work? You can’t? Then you need a serious rethink about your life!

 

The good news is that it is possible by doing a few basic things:

·         Make sure two weeks in advance that people connected with work know that you are going away and give them a deadline of five days before you go if they need anything from you.

·         As soon as you have booked your leave block it out in your diary, on your computer and tell key people.

·         The day before you go on leave block out the entire day so that you are not available for meetings. Put a message on your email letting people know that you are unable to respond as you are unavailable all day. That way you are not left with last minute tasks or action points. You have a day to clear up loose ends, pass over vital bits of information.

·         Tell people you are going to a remote area where it is unlikely you’ll be able to get a mobile signal or internet connection – so you won’t be contactable.

·         Every night for at least a week before you go lie in bed and imagine watching yourself doing everything you would normally do before leaving work each night: switching off the computer, tidying your desk, walking out the door and it closing behind you. Then imagine yourself completely relaxed, maybe on a beach somewhere or just sinking comfortably into your favourite chair, see everything you’ll see, hear everything you’ll hear and feel how good it is to be this relaxed.

·         Tell ‘that voice’ when it gets going to shut up, or imagine a big switch in your head which you can use to turn it off!

·         Give yourself permission to check out from your daily life for the period of your holiday. Ask yourself, what’s the worse thing that could happen? And if that’s the worse thing that could happen, is it really a life or death situation? Because if you don’t give your body chance to relax on holiday it might just be!