Prepare to let go

Jeremy Tauri.

You might spend most of the year thinking how nice a holiday would be. But when it actually comes to setting up an email auto-reply and signing off for a couple of weeks, it turns out it's not to be as easy as you'd expect.

I had a taste of that this month when I went overseas with my family. Even with all the distractions of Hawaii, it was hard to completely let go of work.

Via my smartphone, I was still connected to my work emails, and able to talk to clients through Facebook messenger. The odd one or two called me until I remembered to change the office divert from my cellphone.

It probably took a full week to wind down from of full work mode, getting it down to a couple of hours responding to queries and leaving the day-to-day running of the business to the team in the office.

If planning a holiday, here's a few ways to cut your workload:

- Be prepared to let go: This was the hardest thing to do but remember that the work will be there but a holiday with your family does not happen so often.

- Limit the times you check your work emails: This will not only keep your data bill down, but it will mean that work does not take over your entire day. If you set aside half an hour at the beginning and end of the day, it makes the work-life balance manageable, while also keeping a check on the worry that can creep in about what might be waiting in your inbox for you.

- Make sure your clients know you're away: And when you will be back, and who they can talk to in your absence. If you can, set up an auto response on your emails.

- Set a timeframe: If checking your messages while you're away, set a timeframe such as: "I'll try to respond to your email within 24 hours".

- Trust your staff: Give them the mandate and resources they need to deal with the work. Run through it with them before you leave. And, most of all, make sure you have the team you can trust in your absence.

- Jeremy Tauri is an associate at Plus Chartered Accountants.