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Real
Vacation - Leaving
It Behind |
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What
constitutes a real vacation is a combination of timing, distance and
the ability to truly leave work behind, and staying connected doesn't always mean working.
How connected are we to our inboxes, voicemail, offices, email pals,
wired friends, and other electronic specters? The average carryon
doesn't contain only a change of clothes suited to the climate at
our destination - it includes a PDA; a laptop with converter / phone
line / extra battery; a cellphone, a pager, phone cards, email
passwords and more. And even if we have the courage to step away
from that info portal and data stream, we can feel as much adrift as
liberated, and it's not just because we're afraid to stop
working.
There's a good reason why we call it a vacation. It's the time that
we set aside to forget all the have-to's and should's of daily life
and indulge in rest and recreation. In fact, it's re-creation!
Reduce your stress. Relieve your anxieties. Relax your body. Rest
your mind.
Most of us are looking for some middle road between accessibility
and privacy. There are ways to stay connected without disappearing
entirely.
1) Set up a vacation/out-of-office email auto-reply. Most folks,
once they see one of these, will leave you alone for a few days.
2) Change your voicemail messages. Let folks know that you're not
available, and the day of your return. (One exec I know adds a day
to his return date - if he's back on a Monday, he'll say Tuesday to
buy some time to catch up, and will return calls on Tuesday.)
3) Give out only hotel and fax phone numbers. If there are potential
emergencies, and you are absolutely indispensable at home, give out
hotel phone and fax numbers. Colleagues and friends who wouldn't
think twice about sending an email or leaving a phone message or
calling your cell to chat with you on the beach will never go so far
as to leave a message with a real human being. I recommend this even if you travel with a cellphone.
4) If you tell people you'll be checking messages, they'll expect
you not only to check messages, but to consider, return, and act
upon all messages. As if you were at work.
5) Pick choice words in all vacation announcements (voicemail or
email). "If your problem is URGENT;" "If this is an
EMERGENCY…"
6) Cellphone voicemail. Use it. Just because the phone rings doesn't
mean you have to pick it up. If you are in a meeting or already
speaking to someone, unless you are expecting an important call, to
answer another phone is outright rude. If I sound old-fashioned, so
be it; I'm simply not sure at what point a ringing phone became a
reason to stop in your tracks.
7) Unsub from all wire services, professional mailing lists, new
book release notifications, hobby listservs, anything that dumps
messages into your email box without prejudice. You're likely going
to delete it all without reading it anyway, and it's likely going to
crash your email app, so just get it over with. And if your service
starts bouncing mail back to listservs, you're going to be extremely
unpopular.
8) Don't give out all your numbers. On days when I'm on the road,
I've come home to the following: a message on my home phone that
says "I'll call your office." A message on the office
phone a few minutes later that says "I'll call your cellphone."
A message on the cellphone that says "Where are you? I left a
message at your home and office." Then they got online, and
left an email.
9) Return calls after office hours (or during business hours if
you're calling a residence). Many problems can often be solved by
simply leaving a message, but if you call during business hours and
actually get someone on the phone, it can be very difficult not to
be dragged into whatever is happening.
10) Make all your contacts at the same time. If you absolutely must
check in, do it in one fell swoop, and be done with it. Fire up your
computer, check your email and voicemail, return calls and email,
and make notes in a single sitting. If you spread it out in small
episodes throughout the day, you're never really away from it.
Things to Leave Behind
1) The extra battery. Outlets are everywhere.
2) Redundant technology. Checking email with the cellphone, phone
messages with email, all of them with PDAs, leads to unparalleled
data clutter and diaspora. My advice, as mentioned above: pick your
app, and stick to it.
3) Email addictions and other habitual behaviors. The early morning
email check, the late evening email roundup - these tend to cut into
the very best times of the day, the time you should be reclaiming,
especially if you are on vacation. |
Find broken links, incorrect information or have related tips you'd
like to share? Let us
know! |
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