I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing

I told a friend of mine the other day how my son is always up at 6:00 am in the morning, just the time when I am trying to squeeze in a few hours for myself and her comment was – he doesn’t want to miss anything! That is what I observe with my fellow colleagues and business affiliates that are strong users of social media, email, voicemail etc.

There are statics abound of how many people continue to stay tuned in when they are on vacation (http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=127149&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1303331&highlight=)

It reminds me of the old saying “How can I miss you if you won’t go away”. You think you are so essential to the very core of your business that in the 3 days you are out it will simply crumble. This conglomerate with multiple layers, defined roles and responsibilities is all on your shoulders. Or your small business that is going through multiple financial challenges and is sucking your life away will simply fall apart the minute you take this one deserved vacation after years of slogging it out.

Do me a favor and read this article (http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/managing/article/getting-your-life-in-balance-for-the-health-of-you-and-your-company-cameron-herold) . All this has been written before but like most things we might just need to hear it again and again before we internalize it. Is it possible to disconnect anymore? How many people even think it’s a problem to check your emails while lying on the beach? I don’t think it’s perceived by most who do it as “working” or “not relaxing”, it’s just part of life, just like breathing. I had to laugh as I read tweets from a work-life balance coach, tweeting about being on vacation and lying on the beach. Is that really necessary? Could you not lie on the beach and enjoy being there, disconnect from the wires and let us miss you for just a minute. How refreshing it would be to come back from vacation fully recharged not having thought about, worried about or connected to work and then telling us all about your great vacation.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the anxiety of having to face 1000 emails when you get back to the office or wanting to post a cute photo straight from your iphone for friends and family. Perhaps decide when you will check your emails and then put your device away. I know when I am at my worst, it is almost as if I am just waiting for someone to send me an email. I just checked it a minute ago … so I check it again just in case in the last half-minute something absolutely amazing came in.

I think missing something is ok and I really want people to look forward to me coming back. I take commitment seriously, so when I commit to being out of the office and spending some time relaxing, you can bet that’s exactly what I’ll be doing.