The Power of Unplugging

For the first time in seven years, I took a vacation and completely unplugged from work. Not “unplugged-but-also-checking-and-responding-to-email” —actually unplugged. It was easier seven years ago—I had a desktop computer and a Blackberry Pearl that just didn’t work at all in Mexico. But as technology and connectivity have improved (and become both a blessing and a curse), it’s been harder to truly get away.

I decided that my honeymoon was the best reason to force myself to unplug. With the support of my boss (THANK YOU) and of course my awesome team (THANK YOU), I decided to make myself do it—and stick to it. In fact, I turned my email off on my phone on the way to the airport and left it off for the entire trip. And now, I am going through my 700+ emails as I sit in the Orlando Airport on a two-hour layover plus two-hour delay, coming home from what I can only describe as the most peaceful, lovely seven days of my life.

You know what happened while I was gone?

A lot of stuff.

But as I suspected, every last thing was handled by a member of the team. Sounds so simple, right? What I learned on this trip is that taking a break to rest, relax and recharge is really what’s best for the employees—and for the company—and that I am not going to wait another seven years to do it again.

My husband always points out how often I’m on my phone, and I get super defensive about it because I know he’s right. So, on most days, I didn’t even bring my phone to the beach,and the tension in my neck and shoulders eased up almost immediately (the couples massage might have helped, too). My head was clear, my mind was present and I soaked up the sun, sand and sea.

I read five books on this trip. FIVE ACTUAL BOOKS. If that isn’t the sign of a restful vacation, what is? I slept more than nine hours per night and woke up to the sun shining through our window every morning. The biggest decision I had to make each day was whether I wanted to drink my margarita frozen or on the rocks.

It was heaven.

Toward the end of our last day, I started worrying about logging back into my email and getting back to reality, but as I started reading, I was excited about what I saw, not stressed. I saw dozens of awesome interviews and placements that our media relations team secured, congratulatory emails from our clients and projects getting checked off to-do lists—more “FYI” emails than actual requests. It took me a few hours to get through it but when I was done, I still felt so relieved and grateful to have been fully present on my honeymoon and that everyone had my back at work while I was gone.

I feel refreshed, recharged and ready to tackle 2016. I wrote a column about how I don’t make New Year’s resolutions but I think this year, I’m going to focus on being in the moment, whether it’s at work or home, and to being on my phone less.

And I’m going to start planning my next vacation.