Does your phone deserve a break too?

I look forward to heading off on Saturday to the sunny island of Ibiza with my wife, kids and parents for a relaxing two weeks in the sun (not the party centre of San Antonio although my wife & I may consider it one evening!), not only as it gives me a chance to spend time with my children, my wife and catch up with the folks but because….. I don’t take my phone!

“The phone stays at home in a drawer untouched and unloved for two weeks”

I made a conscious decision a couple of years ago to stop taking my phone on holiday. This was not long after experiencing my first holiday with a phone that also sent me my emails and had found myself replying to colleagues and clients responding to queries, getting involved in business discussions and not switching my phone or myself off!

Now you could argue that I didn’t need to reply or I could have switched off the emails off but as you may have experienced yourself this is sometimes difficult to do, so since then the phone stays at home in a drawer untouched and unloved for two weeks.

Is this the right thing to do? 

Am I letting my clients and colleagues down by not being contactable? (or am I letting my family down by being contactable?), Will my friends shun me when I return as I have not replied to any of their texts? Will I miss out on a business deal because someone can’t speak to me personally as they didn’t want to contact the office in my absence ?
In my opinion NO, so far I haven’t come back to any big traumas and everything has been handled in my absence by my more than able collegues.

Plus, I have managed to have two weeks relaxing with my family, spending quality time together. Holidays are now rights and are in place to support health, happiness and family values. But can you have a healthy holiday when you are still on red alert for work?

There is no doubt that modern communications make certain aspects of work more effective but it is worthy of consideration that for the 5 weeks of the year that we have as “holiday” do they in fact have a negative impact on how effective we are for the rest of the year and in so doing do they undermine the benefits that they so clearly could bring?

I am really looking forward to my holiday but just in case I always leaves my wife’s telephone number with a colleague because you never know…..

If you want to get in contact with Paul and his phone (when he gets back from holiday!) you can connect with him on LinkedIn or email paul.leishman@go-escape.com