A Smart Phone Vacation

Where I grew up, every school closed the week of President's Day. VACATION!  If you think about it, February is a perfect time to stop and refresh. You have successfully survived the holiday season, but now you are overcome with the stress of snow, cold, school cancellations and cabin fever! So let's do it! Let's go on vacation! American's have always been behind the curve when it comes to vacation time allotted and vacation time taken. We get less, and we take less. Now studies show that there is a new enemy to our vacation: the SmartPhone The smart phone is supposed to increase productivity, however, studies are overwhelmingly showing that the opposite is happening. One of the ways that the smart phone is hurting productivity is by coming on vacation with us  In a Forbes study less than 3% of people indicated that they DO NOT review and respond to emails while on vacation. That means an overwhelming 97% of us do! At first glance, it would appear that this may be a good thing. That means work hasn't stopped, even if you are on a beach. In reality, this "always" on concept has the opposite impact. Vacation, a rest of the brain, and refueling, increases productivity. Mark Rosekind of Alertness Solutions did research that showed that a vacation can cause productivity to increase by 80% and that upon returning from vacation an employee's response times are usually 40% higher. Companies like Jancoa of Cincinnati increased vacation time available to employees, and created a culture were taking that vacation was encouraged and saw sales go up 15%. So what can you do? Since we rely so heavily on the connection the phone gives us during our every day lives; what can we do on vacation? Here are some tips.

• First, set expectations - before you head off on vacation, share expectations with colleagues, clients, vendors and, if you don't work for yourself, your boss. I find that a simple email blast stating when I am going on vacation and setting up the expectation that I will NOT be checking emails or voice-mail while away is sufficient. Send this blast anywhere from 2 weeks to 1 month before you go; long enough for someone to reach out with a concern, short enough that they won't forget! Note: if you work for a company where you have a boss, be sure to have this conversation face to face with your boss; take the temperature of the corporate culture. If you find out this is not the norm, don't just fall in line. Negotiate. Ask for the down time, in order to improve your work!
  

• Before you go, turn on the Out of Office Alert on your email - remember that feature? The one you used before you had a smart phone and were responding emails all the time? Consider having the subject of the alert include how long you are gone for. For example: "Michele is out of the Office 2/1/2015 - 2/7/2015" You can include more details in the body of the message. Likewise, change your voice-mail message - if you get phone calls on your smartphone, change that message as well!
  

• Designate a second in command - if necessary have someone on call to answer questions in your absence. Include their name and contact information in your out of office alerts. If appropriate, you can have your email forwarded to them while you are gone; this way they can respond and limit the number of emails you have to handle upon your return.
  

• DON'T provide your cell phone number in your Out of Office Alerts! This may seem self explanatory, but I can not tell you how many messages I see with "If you have an emergency, please call me on my cell." Most of us do not have life and death emergencies in our jobs. If you do a good job at setting up expectations, and putting a second in command in place, you should be fine!
  

• Consider an alternate phone number - Remember when cell phone numbers were "prized" and only given to certain people. Go back to those days. If you are a business owner and use your cell phone as your office phone, consider using a service like Google Voice. You can obtain phone number, that rings to your smart phone (or any phone); however, you can put it on Do Not Disturb while you are away. Put this number in your emails, on your business cards and marketing materials, and retain your cell phone number for family and other VIPs. This will keep your phone from ringing while you are relaxing.
  

• Turn Off your Email App - it is easy to find yourself opening the email app, even when you don't mean to. Then suddenly, you see that one email  and you get sucked into reading all your email, and maybe making a couple of calls. To avoid this, go to your phone's settings (or if you use an app like the Gmail app for iPhone, you can actually go directly to the app)and turn off your email.  This way if you accidentally open the app you will be greeted by an empty email box! 
  

• Turn off Push Notifications - this is a good practice for everyday, not just vacation. Go to the phone settings and turn off push notifications for all apps that do not require your immediate attention. You will find that you are interrupted far less during the day than normal, and that your phone battery last a LOT longer!
  

• Consider social media apps closely. While we like to be connected, the point of a vacation is to disconnect. You probably can do without the update on Aunt Betty's new puppy and Sue's kids having the flu. The beauty of social media (and one of it's downfalls) is that the posts don't go away. You can catch up later. Additionally think twice before posting that "look at me on vacation" photo; alerting everyone that you are away. While you may think, no biggie, these are all my friends; the continual changes to social media site's security settings and policies, can leave you accidentally vulnerable. Play it safe; stay off social media. Disconnect with the world and reconnect with you!
  

• Turn off your phone! If that doesn't work for you, consider turning on the do not disturb function. Newer phones allow you to put a "do not disturb" on specific numbers or functions of the phone. The pet sitter can get through, but not the boss! Another option is to use the Airplane Mode of the phone. This will allow you to play games and listen to music, but no calls, texts, or notifications!
  

• Finally, give yourself permission to be on vacation! Many of us feel the need to remain connected out obligation and commitment to our jobs and our clients. In reality, most people, including your boss,  are completely supportive of you being on vacation and relaxing; especially when you return refreshed and ready to dive in. So, if you are heading somewhere tropical, unplug and increase your productivity! And send me a post card!