Forget about the working holiday

By ANGELA MCCARTHY

Summer's finally arrived, and holidays aren't far off. But what do holidays really mean to you? Traffic jams, huge family arguments and worries about work that you can't shake off?

Or a leisurely holiday or adventure that sees you returning to work invigorated and refreshed? To get just that, take these tips to heart.

Be prepared

There is nothing more depressing than cranking up your computer after a holiday and finding what appears to be thousands of emails.

Time Logics director Robyn Pearce, a time management specialist, recommends you get organised before you leave.

Have your emails diverted internally through the message rules function in your email system (look under "tools" or "help") or set up an automatic message response on your email saying you're out of the office.

In the automatic reply, make it clear you're away, and suggest other contacts - people still at their desks - within the organisation.

Prevent post-holiday mutiny

Your return will be more pleasant if you depart on a good note. You only encourage mutiny if you leave behind unexpected tasks and catastrophes.

If you work with incompetents, make sure you leave written notes (and keep copies) about what to do when you are away, so you don't get blamed for their lack of nous.

Be the good fairy

No kids? How about saving your summer holiday until the wailing kids with melting icecreams are back at school?

Colleagues with children will love you for volunteering to hold the fort while they head off to crowded beaches and interminable traffic jams.

Just hide your smug smile as you cruise about the empty, quiet office.

Have a pre-holiday clean-up

Don't leave any mean, irreverent or doubtful emails on your system - just in case.

Leave the laptop at home

Try not to take your laptop and mobile phone to the beach with you. You can make mortal enemies of your family by working on holiday. It's supposed to be about quality time, remember?

Teenagers may act like they don't want to know you on the beach, but back home you'll be reminded regularly about how you were too busy to pay attention to them.

Equally bad are the paper files plonked in the corner of the bach bedroom taunting you because you're ignoring them.

If you must take work on holiday, Pearce suggests putting boundaries around the time and place the work is done, so there is separation of work and play and everyone knows the rules.

Defusing that fraction too much friction

Often families experience a lot of friction when they spend these supposedly happy times together. And that's unsurprising, says business psychologist Jasbindar Singh, of SQ Consulting.

"All year couples and families live busy parallel lives, then are forced to spend time together and it is inevitable that conflicts and frustrations will arise.

"Accusations such as 'you're always like this' or you never do that' only catastrophise a situation," says Singh.

Instead, try a more specific approach, such as: "I'm upset you didn't help with the dishes when so-and-so turned up." Hey, you may even end up talking and resolve the issue.

Remember: your family aren't staff

Often the boss forgets to turn boss-mode off when on holiday. The family suffers, then rebels.

"It takes time to change mode from driving the organisation to chilling out," says Singh.

A bit of subtle diplomacy is required. Someone needs to take the control freak aside to point out the behaviour. "But be face-saving, and don't be accusative," says Singh.

Often the person doesn't realise they're being the wicked control freak from the west.

Let your mind mull

Holidays often prompt people into reflecting and then making life-changing decisions.

This is because we move into "being" mode when we relax, rather than "doing" mode, which allows for creative thoughts and new insights, says Singh.

Pearce advises letting ideas float through your subconscious, rather than picking away at one or two like a dog with a bone. You'll be surprised what surfaces.

Ease into the return

Sorry guys, but you do have to return to work - unless you win Lotto.

And don't expect to hit the ground at your usual speed. "You're always slower when you first come back to work from a proper break. Acknowledge it. Your body needs time to change tempo," says Pearce.

Change is a good thing

Understand that colleagues who have worked through while you have been on holiday may well compare the way you do things with that of your fill-in.

If you rule with a rod of iron, there will be sustained celebrations after you go. And, no, three weeks before the holidays is a bit late to change your authoritarian approach! Still, there are always those New Year resolutions ...

Even if you are popular, expect that there may have developed in your absence some new approach that works better than your way of doing things. Embrace it, it's a new year!

Tackle the desk-top tip strategically

There is nothing worse than returning to a desk overflowing with mail and memos.

Tackle it immediately, says Pearce. Her tip is to sort the mail into three piles depending on priority - the first one holding urgent information, while the third pile is stuff that may worth be looking through eventually.

Too many people start at the top to burrow their way through, only to get overwhelmed, frustrated and sidetracked, says Pearce. And that's no way to start a new year.

Getting a grip on time

SQ Executive Management Consultancy