Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are all wired differently. Some people need, or prefer, to fully unplug during PTO. I don't happen to feel I need that to have a break from work and if I can work a couple hours a day and keep up with a few things and make my return easier, I'd much rather do that.

I'm not a breakfast person so while my family eats, I get in some work time and then we get on with our vacation day together.

Some of the suggestions here (deleting your inbox upon return) might work well for some jobs but it definitely would not for mine. Everyone has to figure out what works best for them so when someone says, "People should just....." It just doesn't work that way.

Sure it does. If you died or were fired your work would get figured out. People want to pretend otherwise because that’s what our society and your anxiety (your “wired”) comment leads you to believe. Even the attorney’s example above can be better managed. Her inbox can be delegated to her backup while they are out.

No one is indispensable.

Attorney here and nope. I’m not giving someone else my ECF login credentials. Also, at my agency we don’t have a backup or a secretary or dedicated paralegals. Thanks DOGE cuts. I do my own administrative work. If I’m out for two weeks and something comes in, I just deal with it when I’m back. Not hard and doesn’t require pretending that nothing happened while I was away. Deleting one’s inbox is so odd to me. What would I say at argument - sorry judge, I never read the other side’s filing because it came in while I was away so I deleted it? My backup read it for me, too bad she’s not here instead of me? That’s not how law works.

Anonymous wrote:We are all wired differently. Some people need, or prefer, to fully unplug during PTO. I don't happen to feel I need that to have a break from work and if I can work a couple hours a day and keep up with a few things and make my return easier, I'd much rather do that.

I'm not a breakfast person so while my family eats, I get in some work time and then we get on with our vacation day together.

Some of the suggestions here (deleting your inbox upon return) might work well for some jobs but it definitely would not for mine. Everyone has to figure out what works best for them so when someone says, "People should just....." It just doesn't work that way.

Sure it does. If you died or were fired your work would get figured out. People want to pretend otherwise because that’s what our society and your anxiety (your “wired”) comment leads you to believe. Even the attorney’s example above can be better managed. Her inbox can be delegated to her backup while they are out.

No one is indispensable.

We are all wired differently. Some people need, or prefer, to fully unplug during PTO. I don't happen to feel I need that to have a break from work and if I can work a couple hours a day and keep up with a few things and make my return easier, I'd much rather do that.

I'm not a breakfast person so while my family eats, I get in some work time and then we get on with our vacation day together.

Some of the suggestions here (deleting your inbox upon return) might work well for some jobs but it definitely would not for mine. Everyone has to figure out what works best for them so when someone says, "People should just....." It just doesn't work that way.

Anonymous wrote:Best out of office autoreply I saw recently was:

I am on vacation until August 1st. All emails I receive between now and then will be deleted. Please contact me again after August 1st if still needed. If you need to connect with someone beforehand, my assistant, Sally Strutters, at 202-555-9999, can help direct you to the appropriate team member.

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The person really did delete their entire inbox on returning from vacation! Miraculously all those problems did get solved by someone else.

Must be industry dependent. I get tons of emails from outside my agency that can wait until my return but I do need to address them upon my return. Courts won’t be impressed that I missed a deadline that was communicated while I was out because I deleted my inbox!

Anonymous wrote:It is completely dependent on your workplace culture.

I was a fed attorney until recently. No one checked out for two weeks without checking email daily and leaving their contact information in their OOO message. I worked 20 hours/week while on an international vacation and was responding to emails at 2 am while in the emergency room for HELLP syndrome. I still got a middling performance review that year.

Do you love your work? Because honestly I would never work 20 hours on an international vacation. Don’t you want to just enjoy your trip and live in the moment?

Anonymous wrote:I’m a VP of sales. Like you say, ‘unless it’s a contract’. That’s my life. I plan vacations strategically around quarters closes but I rarely ever fully unplug.

But don’t you make high six figures?

Anonymous wrote:Best out of office autoreply I saw recently was:

I am on vacation until August 1st. All emails I receive between now and then will be deleted. Please contact me again after August 1st if still needed. If you need to connect with someone beforehand, my assistant, Sally Strutters, at 202-555-9999, can help direct you to the appropriate team member.

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The person really did delete their entire inbox on returning from vacation! Miraculously all those problems did get solved by someone else.

I delete all emails sent when I’m on vacation. I’m in a leadership role in a Fortune 500 company.

No one needs to be available 24/7 and everyone needs time off to decompress. People can figure out what to when others are out.

Depends on what the issue is. I am not C level but I do check emails on vacation. If something is really quick it is easier to shoot a quick reply rather than it sit and churn.

Some things are harder to explain/delegate for a short period of time.