Upcoming Time Off? Four Work Things to Do Before Leaving for Vacation

Proper preparation before your time off ensures a stress-free vacation and a smooth return to work. This blog outlines four essential tasks to complete before leaving, including task delegation, setting email responses, and organizing priorities. Looking for a role that offers more flexibility & better benefits? Job search with PrideStaff Financial today!

Organize priorities:

This includes anticipating future needs while you are out. Look at your calendar ahead of time so you’re not surprised by quickly approaching deadlines when you return. If possible, work in advance on projects or delegate tasks to others to make sure they get finished. It’s also a good idea to make a back-to-work to-do list that will be ready for you when you return. This will ease your transition and help you prioritize tasks instead of being overwhelmed right after your break. Before you leave, make sure you have finished any unresolved tasks, so coworkers won’t have to deal with them at the last minute.

Be mindful about schedules:

Before finalizing any plans, check with your HR Department to confirm how much paid time-off you have available. Make sure you have enough before scheduling your vacation. You can help your coworkers and supervisors prepare in advance by giving them as much notice as possible about your vacation dates. This potentially prevents other events from being scheduled during that time. Try to choose a time when you don’t have any large projects at work, or your vacation might not be as restful as you’d hoped.

Set your autoreply:

Believe it or not, autoreply is important. This helps to inform and remind contacts that you’re away. Otherwise, people may get upset that you aren’t responding. Be sure to include the dates you will be gone, and who to contact if there’s an emergency. Setting boundaries before you leave on vacation will help—do you plan on checking email and messages while you’re out? If not, make sure you communicate that in your messages. It will help you, too, especially if you find it hard to stay away from work.

Designate a reliable contact:

Have a go-to contact while you are away. Even the best planners can’t anticipate everything, so designate someone at the office to handle anything that might come up. Before you leave, fill that person in on any ongoing projects you have happening, and make sure they have access to the tools they may need.

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