How to power down, reboot — and make sure work doesn’t get in the way.
By Madeline Buxton, SELF
Vacation starts now… right after you answer that one quick email. But before you know it, you’ve spent the whole morning in your hotel room.
Sound familiar? Sixty-one percent of employees admit to working while on vacation, according to a survey from jobs and career site Glassdoor. (Most say they’re motivated by dedication or fear of falling behind.) But never unplugging can lead to job burnout. “If we expend energy, we need to renew it,†explains Dana Bilsky Asher, PhD, a senior vice president at The Energy Project, a workplace consultancy.
Follow this simple three-step game plan on your next trip so your time off actually leaves you refreshed.
1. Set Some Limits
If you know that checking email at least once a day will ease your mind, choose a short window when you’ll scan and respond to any pressing messages. Tell your supervisor or one coworker about the time slot so they know when they can best reach you, says Michael Leiter, PhD, a psychology professor at Acadia University who studies burnout.
2. Shift Your Focus
It can be hard to switch from a packed schedule to totally open days. “If you’re achievement-oriented, build a challenge into your vacation so you engage your mind in a novel way,†says Steven Berglas, PhD, author of Reclaiming the Fire: How Successful People Overcome Burnout. Taking tennis lessons or a cooking class can keep you busy with the satisfaction of reaching a goal.
3. Prepare for Reentry
Rolling into work after a red-eye can leave you tired and anxious. Instead, plan your return trip for a Saturday afternoon so you have a buffer to ease back into everyday life by Monday, Asher suggests. Similarly, block out catch-up time on your calendar for your first day back, so you don’t get booked solid in meetings while you’re away. “I don’t even promise when I’ll reply on my out-of-office message,†Asher says. That way you haven’t set unrealistic expectations and created deadline pressure for yourself.
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To help quiet your mind and boost awareness of the sensations in your body, sit or lie down in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Start by drawing your attention to different parts of your physical body, and checking in with how they feel. You can begin at the feet and work your way up to the head, noticing and releasing any tension as you go. A thorough body scan meditation might last around 10 minutes, but you can quickly complete the exercise in a minute or less as a way to bring back your wandering mind to the physical present.
Email is one of the biggest Internet stressors, and when we’re at our desks dealing with a pile of unread messages and a growing “follow-up†folder, it’s easy to get a little anxious. In the book “Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life,†Dr. Lillian Cheung and Zen master Thich Naht Hahn outline a brief email meditation to practice before you hit the “send†button. Click here for the full instructions.
According to Dr. Kathleen Hall, stress expert and founder of the Mindful Living Network, nature sounds can do wonders to reduce stress. Hall recommends sitting quietly for one to three minutes and listening to the sounds of natural landscapes, like oceans, rainforests or brooks.
“There are some great apps that have sounds of whales or birds or cats purring … It immediately stops the production of stress hormones,†Hall tells the Huffington Post.
Even if it doesn’t feel natural at first, making time for a quick laugh — whether it’s by watching a silly animal video or reminding yourself of a funny joke — can help bust you out of a stressful headspace.
Laughter releases endorphins in the brain and relaxes the muscles, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Breathly deeply in and out for just one minute can help to refresh your mind and reset your body. Harvard University research in the 1970s conducted by Dr. Herbert Benson found that short periods of meditation that focused on the breath had the power to alter the body’s stress responses, activating the “relaxation response.†Find a quiet place to sit for one minute, focusing on breathing deeply in and out and letting go of distracting thoughts.
The part of the brain that processes smells is located in close proximity to that which governs emotion and memory, so scent can be a powerful way to induce pleasant emotions and calm the mind. Essential oils can be particularly effective — according to a 2008 study published in Holistic Nursing Practice, essential oils actually reduced stress perception in nurses working in intensive care unit settings. Try keeping ylang ylang, peppermint or lavender essential oils at your desk and applying a small amount on the skin when you start feeling stressed.
Help soothe tense muscles in the neck and shoulders (also known as the “stress triangleâ€) by giving yourself a brief massage. But make sure it’s not a mindless massage while staring at the computer — for the full de-stressing benefits, stop what you’re doing and bring mindful awareness to the muscle tension you feel, as well as the release of that tension.
The free motion and stretching movements of dance can help to release tension from the body and lift your spirits. Exercise in any form can act as a stress reliever by pumping up endorphins, according to the Mayo Clinic, and dancing can be a particularly enjoyable way to blow off steam for many people. Put a favorite song on your headphones, step away from the computer, and let loose for a minute — it’s almost guaranteed to boost your mood.