CHAPTER 33

Don’t Obsess Over Getting Everything Done Before a Vacation

by Scott Edinger

Like most people, I find the week before a vacation to be something of a nightmare, as I attempt to clear the decks before I go. On the face of it, this seems like a good idea—get your work done (and ideally, the work you would have done during the time you’ll be on vacation), and you can go off with your mind at rest. But I believe I’ve been thinking about this entirely backward.

Far from freeing you to enjoy that time away, what’s really happening is that you’re stealing energy from the future to clear the decks, and as a result turning your relaxation time into recuperation time. I need only go back to the last vacation I took to demonstrate this point. ...

Get HBR Guide to Being More Productive (HBR Guide Series) now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.