One of the best things about the holidays is the time spent relaxing with the ones we love and disconnecting from work. But, if we aren’t careful, that plan sometimes backfires. Too often, the time we are meant to spent away from work is disturbed by work distractions whether it’s early morning and late-night email checks or the mental stress of worrying about work piling up while we’re away. Here are our tips to help you disconnect.
Start the work wind down prior to your time off
It’s a lot harder to disconnect if you’ve got ten projects going at full blast. Instead, try to prepare your work environment for your departure in advance. This might mean reassigning key tasks, preparing key clients for your time away, or scheduling out billing/payments. Be sure to plan in advance for your time away and you’ll feel much less stress before you take time off.
Share holiday traditions/plans with your team
When your employees and colleagues share a bit about their families and holiday traditions, it supports positive work-life integration. When your team sees your calendar blocked off and links it with your long-awaited family vacation, they become invested in protecting and respecting that vacation time as well.
Encourage your team to proactively discuss ground rules for time away from work
An important element of truly disconnecting from work during your vacation is trusting that your practice is in good hands. Develop a strategy to enlist the support of your colleagues and staff so you are confident your chiropractic practice will continue to thrive while you’re away. Because everyone wants to be able to truly disconnect and enjoy their vacation time, discussing and developing some “vacation ground rules” benefits everyone in your practice. This will help determine who supports who and even prevent employees from checking in while they are away.
Determine your disconnect plan
The truth is that it’s not always realistic to 100% disconnect while you’re away from your practice. You may not have someone who can completely back up your role or you’d rather just check in occasionally to avoid the stress of a million e-mails when you come back. Your disconnect plan is entirely your own, so just remember to set realistic boundaries and follow.
Whether you’re getting away for the holidays or planning your next big vacation, be sure to prepare your practice with plenty of time before your departure. To learn more about how ChiroDestiny can help promote a successful practice, click here for a free practice analysis.