So, you want to take a vacation, but the thought of doing it fills you with more anxiety than actually going to work. You know there will be phone calls from the office asking for directions. You know you will be sitting on the beach combing through emails, afraid you might be missing something, and fearful of encountering an avalanche of emails when you return.

But you need a vacation. We all need a vacation occasionally. Research has shown that taking one is necessary for us to recharge. So, what do you do? The secret is preparation and installing replacements. Here are a few things to do.

1. Prepare well in advance.
Talk with your supervisor about coming up with a plan for one or more people to handle your duties while you are away. And do it well in advance of your departure, so you have plenty of time to get ready. Make a written list of what needs to be done and how you plan to cover everything.

2. Get your replacement ready
Schedule time when your replacement can spend time with you to learn what needs to be done while you are away, and so that the person has time to learn any skills that are needed, and so that he or she knows the routine.

3. Have an official handoff
Get together with your replacement before you leave to finalize any details and to make sure there are no lingering uncertainties. Also, meet with the person when you get back to find out what he or she did and what issues you need to address.
It is also a good idea to make notes of how things went – what went well and what needs to be improved for next time.

4. Handling email
Your replacement should be given authority to handle your email so that it doesn’t pile up and nothing important slips by. Doing this also ensures that you won’t be interrupted during your vacation, and if you are, it will only be for something really out of the ordinary.
5. Hold a staff meeting about vacations.

Everyone should meet to plan together a system for handling things when people go on vacation. All staff should give input into the process. This will allow employees to take much needed vacation without experiencing a lot of stress, and without too much interruption of the normal work flow at the office.

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