How to Prep for a Truly Stress-Free Break from Work
Because your sanity shouldn’t have to stay behind while your suitcase gets on the plane.
Let’s face it, taking a proper break from work can feel like trying to land a plane while juggling inboxes, team queries, and a vague sense of guilt that you’re letting the side down.
But here's the truth, you can step away without everything falling apart. You really can rest without checking in “just in case.” And you can return without dreading that first Monday back.
Here’s how to do it without losing your cool, your credibility, or your holiday vibes.
🔁 1. Set Up a ‘Reverse Handover’
You may already know the basics of a handover as a tidy list of what your team needs to pick up while you’re away. But here’s where it gets more powerful if you flip it around.
A reverse handover means also spelling out what NOT to touch, avoid, or panic about in your absence. That tricky stakeholder who’ll “circle back” endlessly? Park it. That half-baked project still in strategic limbo? Let it marinate like the Greek lamb you’ll soon be enjoying.
Why does this matter? Because when you’re away, ambiguity breeds anxiety on both sides. Giving your team permission not to act on certain things relieves pressure, reduces missteps, and helps you return to far less chaos.
Added bonus: Record a short Loom or video message walking through your handover with a human touch. It’s quicker than typing, it’s more engaging, and it signals, “I trust you with this but also, don’t poke the hornet’s nest.”
📅 2. Block a ‘No-Meeting Landing Zone’
This is the one move most people forget and then deeply regret the moment they step back into the office.
The calendar flips. You return from your break and before your brain has remembered how to log in, you’re neck-deep in meetings you didn’t even know were scheduled. Welcome back, indeed.
Enter: the “landing zone”.
Block out at least half a day, ideally a full one, on your first day back as a sacred no-meeting, no-debrief, no-chaos buffer. Use it to scan emails, reconnect with priorities, and ease your nervous system out of vacation mode (preferably with coffee and biscuits, not a backlog of Teams calls).
Be explicit about this buffer in your out-of-office message or pre-leave comms. Something like:
“I'll be back on \[date], and using that day to get reoriented before rejoining meetings from \[next day]. Thanks for your patience!” Or just block book it as “Not Available” in your calendar. Simple messaging is often the best.
Protect that buffer like it’s your boarding pass home.
🔕 3. Switch Off Notifications (And Your Guilt)
Let’s be clear, taking time off isn’t abandoning your team. It’s investing in your resilience. Your inbox doesn’t determine your impact, your energy does.
So turn off your notifications. That includes email, Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, carrier pigeon or whatever it is, snooze it. And more importantly, silence the little voice that says, “But what if they need me?”
Because here’s what happens when you keep checking in:
* You never fully relax.
* Your team doesn’t fully take ownership.
* You model a culture where rest isn’t safe or respected, for you or anyone else in your team.
And the outcome? You come back just as depleted as when you left, and your team learns that being "essential" means being always-on.
Instead, set boundaries and the example: take your break as if you mean it.
You’re not indispensable because you never stop working. You’re indispensable because you return refreshed and ready to lead.
🧘 4. Try Heart Coherence (or another fast-acting nervous system reset)
Ever notice how your body doesn’t get the memo that you’re on holiday?
You leave the office, pack the bags, board the flight and your mind is still scrolling through emails while your shoulders attempt to grow into your ears.
Invite in a bit of Heart Coherence, a deceptively simple technique from the science-backed system at HeartMath. It takes about two minutes and can be done discreetly on a train, plane, hammock, or even hotel breakfast queue.
Here’s the how-to:
1. Breathe in low and slow for 5 seconds, and out for 5 seconds.
2. Bring your attention to your heart area.
3. Recall a calming, uplifting feeling—gratitude, joy, a loved one, a beautiful view.
4. Keep breathing and feeling for 2–3 minutes.
What it does: synchronises your nervous system, lowers cortisol, boosts clarity, and helps you actually arrive. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too.
Use it before you leave, while you’re away, and (especially) on your first morning back. It’s a micro-reset with macro impact.
📬 5. Write an Out-of-Office That’s Actually Useful (and Human)
Your OOO message isn’t just an admin thing, it’s your digital “Do Not Disturb” sign, and it sets the tone for how people treat your boundaries.
At minimum, it should include:
* Dates you’re away
* Who to contact in your absence (if anyone)
* When you’ll respond (e.g., “after \[date]” not “as soon as I return”)
However, to really make it sing, add some personality. Maybe a gentle reminder that holidays are sacred. Or a little humour, like the leader whose message read:
“My wife has informed me that if I respond to emails during this holiday, certain parts of my anatomy may be removed without anaesthetic. I plan to return with everything intact—so please expect a reply after \[date].” (True story!)
People remember this. They smile. They respect the boundary, and they’re far more likely to give you the space you’ve earned.
💡 The Real Secret?
It’s not about working extra hard before you leave.
It’s not about having a hyper-detailed handover.
And it’s definitely not about checking in from the pool.
It’s about recognising that your value doesn’t vanish the moment you go off-grid.
Quite the opposite. When you take a real break, when you trust your team, protect your rest, and model a sustainable way of working, you build more credibility, not less. You show people that excellence and exhaustion don’t have to go hand in hand.
So take the break. Properly. No guilt. No lurking in inboxes. Just you, your time, and the permission to fully switch off.
Because when you come back rested? That’s when the real magic happens.
**Over to You**
What’s your go-to move for a smooth, stress-free break? Drop it in the comments—we’re building a better culture of rest, one tip at a time.
Written by Martin Daubney, Psychological Coach
Photo credit: Pixabay
