Tips to reduce holiday stress

As we approach the summer holidays, a new study by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), has found that holidays are not nearly as relaxing as they should be.

The ILM survey of more than 1,000 UK workers and managers shows that British employees are working through their annual leave and not making the most of the summer season.

The poll found that more than half of workers (61%) feel obligated to work on holiday – a possible side effect of modern technology, meaning workers are contactable anytime and anywhere. 64% read and send emails during their time off, 28% take business phone calls and 8% go into the office.

Meanwhile, only 28% of those surveyed reported that they had had arguments with friends and family about their working on holiday, down from 37% two years ago. Considering the increase in those working through their holidays, this seems to indicate that it is fast becoming the norm to be constantly switched on.

The poll also revealed that far from being relaxing, the prospect of an upcoming holiday caused 73% of workers to feel more stressed out – up from 71% in 2013 – with 68% staying late in the office the day before.

Even worse, almost 1 in 5 (18%) come back from their holiday more stressed than when they left. Part of the reason for this, it seems, might be that 81% of staff are faced with overflowing email inboxes on their return.

Meanwhile, more than half of workers (54%) still have holiday entitlement when they get to the end of the year, with 42% of managers actually having to encourage their staff to take a break.

ILM tips for cutting down holiday stress levels:

• Plan for your absence – put together handover notes and give clear guidelines to reports on tasks they need to complete
• Make sure that you inform key contacts you will be away ? this will cut down on the number of messages sent in your absence
• Try to plan your holiday timing wisely, so that you?re not away during critical stages of a project
• If you are planning to check work emails, establish ground rules and only do so once or twice a day and switch off your work devices in between
• Set up a detailed out-of-office reply for both your email and phone line. Including dates you?ll be away and a person that can be contacted in your absence
• Do not open your email account straight away upon your return – catch-up meetings with team members might be a better alternative