Is Your Phone Ruining Your Vacation?

Having set boundaries is typical in personal relationships, but we think that there is another relationship where boundaries are absolutely necessary: the relationship you have with your smartphone.

Most people work, on average, 52 hours a week. About 57% of us work 6+ days a week. Half of you don’t take a vacation, and ⅔ of us work while on vacation.*

So, let’s remember: boundaries make your life easier, not harder. That’s why we use Team Scheduling to block off time when we’re available and time when we’re busy. If your co-workers are pinging you when you’re at capacity or on vacation, you may be lacking the right automation tools that can prevent this from happening.

Along with implementing the right software and scheduling tools, we suggest separating yourself from your device before a vacation. Here are 5 ways to do it:

1. Reflect

• What’s the point of your trip?
• Why are you taking a trip?
• When’s the last time you had a vacation?
• Do you currently feel relaxed?
• Are you burnt out?

2. Reason with yourself

• Must you do work while you’re on vacation? If so, how many hours do you really need to spend checking in and catching up? Are there any days where you can completely disengage with email?

3. Separate personal from professional

• Why do you need to check your phone for reasons other than work? What applications are important?
• List the tools you’ll need - the camera for photos, maps for directions, meditation app for relaxation - and stick to those!
• Remove all of the ‘distraction’ apps from your home screen. Either delete them or put them into a folder that isn’t the first thing you see when you look at your phone. Turn off notifications. Better yet, put your phone on Airplane Mode.

4. Know thy enemy, know thy self

• Is e-mail your weakness? Is it Instagram? Know what trips you up: those apps that eat up hours at a time and you don’t know how and get rid of them.
• Don’t trust your brain: we receive a dopamine response when we check our phone and a cortisol response when we don’t. You are literally addicted to your phone. Don’t listen to the signals. Sit through them and they will pass. And you’ll be better for it: more relaxed and more in touch with what you need.

5. Progress, not perfection

We know it’s hard to detach completely. It’s okay. The goal is to have a little more time away from screens and to spend a little more time with ourselves and loved ones. Every time you check your phone ask yourself: what is the best thing that could be waiting for you?

If you are interested in checking out how Accelo's automation can help you disconnect from the office when you’re on a well-deserved vacation, sign up for a free trial here.

*https://www.ondeck.com/vacation-study, https://www.bls.gov/bdm/bdmage.htm, https://news.gallup.com/poll/18088/work-labor-love-smallbusiness-owners.aspx