Learning to "Switch Off" on Holiday

It is hard to switch off when you run a business because ultimately business never sleeps. So how do you take holiday and switch off in today’s modern world when we are constantly reminded of work with messages, alert notifications, mobile phones & emails all at our finger tips and our phone constantly screaming at us for attention?

The French have taken switching off from business to a whole new level with the introduction of a new law in 2017 which barred work email after hours. The law established workers “right to disconnect’ with the goal of preventing burnout by protecting private time. 

While we may be a long way off following the French there are a number of things that we can do to switch off and learning how to quieten your devices is a perfect start.

Turn off all notifications, except for the ones you actually want to receive while you’re on vacation. (We particularly recommend disabling the news.) Think carefully, what notifications are actually important to you and need to be actioned straight away?

Create a temptation-free home screen. Rearrange your apps so that your home screen contains only practical apps that won’t suck you in (for example, the camera, maps, or fishing app). Those are your holiday essentials and you can use them freely. Move business apps to latter screens. 

Reduce FOMO (the fear of missing out) by setting up vacation auto-responses for your email, voice mail and text messages. (To set up an automatic text message response on iPhones, use the customized option for “Do Not Disturb”)

Consider not checking your email at all while you’re away. If you’ve set up a good auto-response and have left instructions for your co-workers, what’s the worst that could happen?

If total abstinence sounds too extreme, commit to checking your email only once or twice a day, ideally from an actual computer. To keep yourself on track, put your phone on airplane mode while you’re out

If there are people whose emails you feel you simply cannot miss — for example, your family or your boss — create V.I.P. lists. Then adjust your notification setting to receive notifications only for messages sent by your these important people.

Most importantly … relax, recharge, re-energise and enjoy your holiday.