Unplugging for the Holidays

Turn off push notifications

With email, chat, messages, Flow, and all your other apps, push notifications can get a little overwhelming during time off. It’s so hard to ignore an email from a coworker, or that reminder for an impending deadline when you’re getting those notices sent right to your phone. When it’s officially your vacation or holiday time, go into the apps you use most and turn off those push notifications. If you use a lot of apps it might take a few minutes to turn them all off, but you’ll appreciate the peace of mind once they’re off. We promise!

Remove work apps from your phone

If you absolutely can’t avoid the temptation of opening those apps, even after you’ve turned off notifications, then remove them completely. It’s not permanent, you can add them back later! In the meantime there won’t be anything to check when you pick up your phone, and we bet you’ll find yourself picking up that phone less and less.

Schedule your work time

Not everyone has the luxury of unplugging completely, even on vacation. If a big deadline gets moved up even though you’re in the Rockies with your skis ready, then you might need to check in. Setting aside some time every day to work during times like this is a simple way to ensure your personal and professional time don’t bleed together. Let your coworkers know what time you’ll be online, and keep to that schedule. Check your emails, complete tasks, or update projects during that time, and that time only. If you know you’ll need to communicate with the rest of your team, then schedule your work time to align with when they’ll be online.

If you’re someone that gets really in the zone and it’s hard to break out of it, set a timer on your phone for the exact amount of time you’ve decided to work. When that timer goes off, close that laptop, hide that cellphone, or turn off your PC!

We hope these tips can help you and your team find a perfect work-life balance! Now, get out there and enjoy your holidays without worrying about work.

Wishing you all the very best this holiday season,