How to actually recharge on holiday

Edwin’s do it newsletter: 2:21 minute reading time

Hello everyone,

We’ve all been there…: You’re stretched extremely thin and greatly anticipate your upcoming holiday in which you’ll “finally unwind and relax”. But, in fact your mind keeps racing and you’re overwhelmed by all of the hustle and bustle of managing your daily travel plan.

Since it’s the holiday period I found it fitting to temporarily interrupt the scientific series with some practical and light insights on how to optimally recharge.

Recharging explained

To get the most out of your time, above all, your must optimisme your available energy. I like to frame your energy reserves as a battery. You can care for its health by optimizing charging cycles. But, the battery will inevitably wear out over time and need to be replaced. You replace it by taking a proper break.

To varying degrees, you’ll want to fix the following things during your break:

• Physical tiredness

• Emotional tiredness

• A depleted attention span

How to holiday

Before the holiday…

Mistake number one is dropping everything and not preparing for your holiday. That’s a sure way to fall from one stress-pit into the other. Instead, try the following:

Wrap up properly so you have peace of mind

• In the weeks leading up to the holiday start looking past your holiday and decide what you need to get done before hand. Make lists, delegate important responsibilities, and check with your colleagues on what they might need.

• Make sure incoming communication and tasks gets handled while on holiday. Set an out of office reply which clearly states what will happen to the messages coming your way and what they can expect. (Tip: say they have to e-mail you after the holiday if it’s urgent)

• Be clear on what will happen when you get started again. Know what the agenda for that week will roughly look like, and what the most important tasks are. By proactively communicating if and when you will get back to messages that came in during your holiday you can buy yourself a whole lot of calmness.

Prepare a rough itinerary

This is for you if you are the type of person that stresses or is lost when there is no plan. Make a list of activities you’d like to do and restaurants you’d like to eat at. Tip: Google Maps, Flights and Hotels is the best and easiest all-round finder out there right now. Better than TripAdvisor for sure.

Ease into it

It will feel so much better if you have a couple of days in between the start of your trip, or at least some calm first days. This will allow for mainly physical rest and mental unwinding. Minimize any pressures.

During the holiday…

See possibilities, not problems

Normally you’re looking around at what the next most important problem is and how you will handle it. On holiday your goal is seeing possibilities instead of hurdles and problems. Try to remind yourself of this.

Don’t indulge in unhealthy behavior

You’re probably drained, and that means you’re likely to gravitate towards junk. That’s fine in moderation, but it won’t let you recharge optimally. Try the following:

• Eat well. Eat vegetables. Avoid excessive carbs and caffeine. It will leave you with more energy and allow you to eat the tasty foods.

• Maintain your healthy routines as much as possible. This could be: yoga, meditation, morning walk/run, journaling.

• Protect your monkey-mind from (digital) junk. Try to avoid scrolling endlessly. Instead prepare some specific books, games or podcasts you want to get into. Calming your mind should be a major priority during you holiday.

Schedule me-time

You likely don’t explicitly think about what would be emotionally recharging for yourself when you’re on holiday with others. Try and plan some activities that are 100% for you.

Keep it loose

Overplanning the amount of activities reduces relaxation because you’re worrying about what comes next. Try scheduling one or two minor activities per day and go by feel for the rest.

After the holiday…

Ease out of it

It’s good to have some buffer days at the end too. You can mentally prepare for starting back up and avoid a chaotic and tense state during the first week.

Prioritize the routine, not the work.

Now we’ve “swapped” our battery, we have to make sure we take good care of it so it will last. Fight the urge to blast through the outstanding work with your newfound energy. Pace yourself and focus on instantiating your healthy routine over the work itself.

That’s a wrap

I hope this newsletter contains some new insights you can give a try on your next holiday. I’m happy to hear any questions or feedback you might have. Feel free to send me a personal message or just reply to this e-mail. If you'd like to see more insights, be sure to follow me on Twitter → https://twitter.com/Edwindoit

See you next week!

, Edwin