Confession: I am a workaholic.
Recently, I took a two-week vacation. How many memos did I write? Podcast scripts? Client meetings? Did I heed my own advice?
I knew a blog post about my struggle would provide some accountability. (I do like to get those A’s on book reports.) But, I am also motivated by a good challenge.
In this case, it came courtesy of Joi Koenig, my gifted assistant and the person I actually work for although I pay her. (If you have a quality assistant, then you know what that means.)
I was told that there was water cooler banter about how much work I would accomplish while on vacation, how many questions I would ask, and how many new ideas I might have.
Upon my return, she told me it was not water cooler banter but much closer to an office pool.
Now our CEO, Glennda Testone, has serious optimistic tendencies and was confident I would detach. But Joi? As soon as she heard about two 9-hour plane rides, well, she had a thing or two to say, adding some healthy skepticism to Glennda’s full-throated happiness for me that I was getting away.
So, how did I do?
Before hearing from Joi, I’ll offer my own assessment.
TWO BIG QUESTIONS TO ASK
I have never gone on a vacation without my MacBook. I thought long and hard about this while packing.
Should I take my laptop?
Despite my better judgment, the laptop made the cut.
That brought me to the next important question: Am I getting WiFi while in flight? First, I can work with or without WiFi. I know this. Long ago, there was no WiFi on airplanes, and that never stopped me.
I knew I had a bad case of this workaholic thing when a flight attendant at the end of a six-hour flight said, with no judgment and a sense of wonder, “I have been a flight attendant for 30 years and I have NEVER seen a person put their head down and work from take off to landing — with no break for six hours. Ever.”
And that was without WiFi.
Anyway, at the risk of getting a lower grade from Joi, I took the laptop and signed up for Wi-Fi for both flights.
DID I FULLY DETACH?
I didn’t get an A for this test. I think that an American Airlines flight attendant from 20 years ago could have told you that, but she was not available for comment for this article.
No, I didn’t fully detach. I did work. I communicated with my team. However, I would like to thank Joi because if she hadn’t created the implicit challenge, my grade would have been lower.
MOMENTS OF WEAKNESS
I had three significant moments of weakness..
THE DAY I DIDN’T FEEL WELL
I was not feeling well one day and needed to be in the A/C and rest.
Eileen headed out for the tour I had decided to skip. I couldn’t help myself. I drafted an op-ed. Glennda did not ask me to do it; I just had this idea.
So I wrote for a few hours and then, of course, I had to send it to her. There was no urgency. Glennda felt obligated to read it and, in her kind way, told me it was kind of a mess and we could deal with it upon my return.
As Joi said the other day, “I say this with love, but most other people would have curled up with a good book or streamed a movie.”
After Glennda’s response, I saw the error in my ways and tuned out for the entire rest of the trip. Joi will back me up on this.
I DEFINITELY SLACKED, BUT NOT THE RIGHT KIND
I had removed Slack from my phone but it was still there on my laptop. I peeked, and what do you know, Christie’s green light was on. I love chatting with my work colleagues and ok, it was Saturday, but I thought I could at least say hi. It started out with basic kibbitzing, but then, well, curiosity got me, and there may have been some work conversation. On the last day of my vacation, and on a Saturday. Definitely no A for Joan.
CATCHING UP ON EMAIL
With great intention, Joi scheduled no internal or external meetings on the Monday I returned to my virtual office. She was kind and strategic. There was some jet lag from being across the pond, but it was mostly intended for me to read email, get caught up, so I could be productive the rest of the week.
I knew this. But again, I could not help myself.
Unlike other times when I have done such things, I didn’t feel wildly accomplished. I felt like someone who could have created a cool Macbook slide show from my pics. Or to Joi’s point, I could have streamed a movie.
WHAT DID I DO RIGHT TO CURB MY WORKAHOLIC TENDENCIES?
Here’s where I think this post might be of the most value to those of you planning time away: (please, please, please tell me you are planning time away!)
- REMOVE REGULAR COMMUNICATION APPS FROM YOUR DEVICES. I knew my phone would go with me everywhere (GPS and camera essential) and so I removed them. Just plain smart.
- USE THE TIME FOR A HOBBY OR TO SCRATCH AN ITCH. I am an avid reader. My wife loves TV and films. She can sleep for hours on an airplane. Not I. I started a book before I left, and was already into it, and that helped a lot. I used some time to eliminate duplicate photos in iPhoto.
- IF YOU CAN, TRAVEL SOMEWHERE YOU HAVE NEVER GONE BEFORE. Scout out restaurants online, read up on the history of a place you are visiting, or just look at pictures. Get ready to be where you are going. When you are there seeing new things, it truly does shut down the “how can I make the company better and help more people” part of me that is really hard to turn off.
- BOOK TOURS OR EXCURSIONS. I have learned that vacations with some structure and scheduling are fantastic for detaching. If you are able, scope out options — whether it is a Segway Tour (as an 8-year-old trapped in a 67-year-old body, that is one of my faves!) One day, we went on a catamaran from 9:00-2:30 with lunch and swimming. No phone service. Lovely.
- NO SCHEDULED MEETINGS. I have a new feeling about this. I used to think that a finite and limited number of meetings on vacation was ok. But for me, nope. It’s hard for me to shut my work mode off, so a 1-hour meeting sets me back several hours.
OK, so you may be thinking I am in a bit of a luxury position. I’m the owner of my consulting enterprise with a five-star assistant.
That said, each of you reading this is in charge — leading an organization or team — and like me, feels wildly responsible for your team, the people you serve, and the community you serve.
Having strong administrative support is something that leaders like you need and deserve.
I do hope you will grab some lessons from my imperfect but greatly improved vacation experience and take the time you need to detach, refuel, enjoy your family and the world around you.
