Things To Do At Work Before You Go On Holiday

You’re counting down to your holidays. Two weeks in the sun without a care in the world. This is how it should be, but do you find that you spend at least some of your precious downtime stressing about work? Whether it’s thinking about something you forgot to do, something you didn’t quite finish on time, or just leaving things in the hands of other people in general, it can rob you of the time that should be spent relaxing.

But the good news is there are things you can do to prepare for leaving work and jetting off so that you actually get to enjoy your holiday.

Make a to-do list

Make a list of things you need to do before you leave work and what should be your priority when you get back. Do this and you can go on holiday safe in the knowledge that you’re well prepared for your time off and your return.

Remember to turn on your out-of-office autoreply

Let people know you’re away, when you will be returning, and who to contact in your absence. The last thing you want is to return to tonnes of angry emails from clients or customers complaining that you didn’t get back to them.

Let everyone know you’re going away

Give your team the dates that you’ll be out of the office and let them know if you’ll be contactable at all during that time if there any issues. For example, phone calls might be out of bounds, but maybe you’ll be checking your emails once per day. Make this clear before you go so you’re not plagued by calls and messages when you’re on your sun lounger.

Arrange who will be covering what

Delegate jobs to trusted colleagues and brief them on exactly what needs doing. Don’t force someone to cover, ideally they’ll agree to it. When you get back, remember to give them a token of your appreciation for picking up the slack.

Give clients a heads up that you’ll be away

Give clients advance notice of when you’re away so they can arrange any important meetings or calls with you in plenty of time. This will go a long way to making them feel that you’ve considered them and you’re acknowledging that they’re important to you and the business.

Give your office and desk a little spring clean

You don’t want to come back to work and find that your desk is covered in mountains of papers and mess. Coming back to a tidy workspace will leave you feeling far less overwhelmed. Spend the last 20 minutes of your last day at work having a general tidy round so you can come back to a more zen office.