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(Read more Crabby Office Lady columns)
When you work for a living, you MUST get away from the office once in a while. With a few of my tips and some helpful templates, create a vacation plan, prepare your colleagues for your time away, and then make a smooth return.
A couple of years ago I wrote a column called Crabby's get-away-from-it-all checklist. Since we recently celebrated Memorial Day, heralding the unofficial beginning of summer, I thought it time to revisit the topic of how to prepare to go on vacation.
On that note, preparing for time away from work is almost as important as the getting away itself. I want you to be able to concentrate on fun, frolic, and not falling off those water skis. And I also want you to come back to work relaxed and refreshed and not freaked out about the loose ends you didn't tie up before you left.
Therefore, I wrote a column that tackles this issue in three parts. Part I tackles preparing for your vacation, Part II is about preparing yourself and your colleagues for your absence, and Part III offers a couple tips on how to ease back into things after you've returned to the office. Ready? Let's hit the road, Jack (and yes, we have to come back).
Planning for vacation can be a bit of a job in and of itself. Luckily for you, there is a variety of tools and resources you can use to map out any type of getaway plan, whether it's a big family camping trip or a four-star tour through Europe (where a currency rate calculator could come in mighty handy). Our template designers (and even some of our customers, who submitted templates) have thought of everything…so you don't have to.
General planning and to-do lists
Figuring out what to bring, what to leave behind, and where you're going to be from day to day is a job in and of itself. Keeping these lists separate can make this a bit easier and more useful to you.
You can't bring everyone with you on the trip (and you certainly wouldn't want to). But it's a good idea to give those staying behind some of your travel information (such as your passport number, emergency contacts, where you'll be when, and things like that). And, if your pet is staying with a friend, a dog-sitter, or even at a kennel, we have a form detailing how to treat him in the manner to which he has become accustomed.
I take a lot of photos — especially while traveling — and it's hard to keep them all organized. We have templates to help you organize your photos — before, during, and after you've taken them.
Note While nothing says "I love you" like agreeing to sit through someone's three-hour slide show of their trip to the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, the least you can do is present your photos using one of our presentation templates.
Read my column on Office online to access the “Let’s go on vacation templates” I’ve mentioned above.
First, it's good to make sure you can have the time off. And if you're a manager, you can help your employees (and thereby yourself) to do so. We have templates designed to help managers (and employees) figure out who's going to be gone when and for how long.
Now that you know who will be gone when, here are a few things you can do to ensure that you won't return to face a mob of angry, red-faced people, milling about your office, wondering where in the heck you are and why this or that didn't get done on time.
Read my column on Office online to access the “Get it together before you leave” templates” I’ve mentioned above.
When the time comes to return to the office (and that time will come) don't expect to hop back into the swing of things and immediately pick up where you left off. If you do, all that post-trip bliss just may be washed away when you take one glance at your Inbox. My advice is to get your feet wet the first day and then work your way up to full steam ahead as the week progresses.
A couple of tips:
Now: Fly away...be free
I hope you have a great time, wherever you're going. And remember: Vacation is vacation — it does not mean telecommuting. It's good and healthy to have some time off. Just don't forget to write.
"No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one." — Elbert Hubbard
-- Crabby
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