Vacation Is Hard Work, Pt. 2

Obviously, vacation is about rest, refueling, and recharging. But, for all those things to happen takes enormous amounts of intentional work. Just because you're out of the office or out of town doesn't guarantee that your vacation will truly refuel you for the next season of work/ministry ahead of you. Here is a list of things to DO so that you can unwind and recharge:

1. Carve the time out on your calendar for vacation. You will not drift into quality time off. You have to make the commitment to MAKING time to recharge. Set the dates and treat vacation as a commitment on your calendar.
2. Communicate your level of accessibility while on vacation. Let the people in your office know how to contact you IN CASE OF EMERGENCY. Then, YOU define "emergency" for them, not the other way around. Also, change any voicemail/email responses to let people you know you're not available and give them an alternative contact (make sure your alternative contact knows he/she's the go-to in your absence!).
3. Set people up for a win. Before you leave, make sure that your responsibilities are covered and contingency plans are in place for WHEN something goes wrong. Something will need attention before you return, so make sure that you've equipped someone to handle it in your absence and it doesn't have to be YOUR attention.
4. VACATE. Vacation means that you have vacated, left the building, quit using email...in essence, you're not working, so that when you come back, you can work better.

In the comments section, share strategies you've used that help vacation really be vacation for you.

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