My goal is twofold - do as little work as possible, and accumulate as few Next Actions as possible, while in vacation.

Part of my approach to this is counterintuitive, though. I tend to take a fair number of calls on vacation, just because most people call my mobile and not my desk. I'd usually rather take the call and either answer their question, or tell them I'm on vacation and refer them elsewhere, or ask them to e-mail me their question so it's there when I return. I'm only handling the "easy stuff", so it's no big deal to answer a work call. People at my company are very cool about this - if I've tried to help them by taking the call on vacation, they don't mind waiting or trying to find someone else.

I set my desk phone outgoing message to say that I'm on vacation, so I don't check that VM box. Sometimes I even do this to my cell, but I'd still generally prefer to defer whatever's in the phone call to someone else, or to an e-mail that will be waiting for me when I return. If there's a VM on my cell, it bugs me till I check it, and then I'm stuck with the next action, not the person who called. (The goal is for the NA list to increase as little as possible while I'm out!).

The backlog can be tough, though. If you're lucky, a lot of the questions that come in during a vacation might find their way to someone else in your absence. Sometimes a proactive approach helps - a quick e-mail reply saying, "Hi, I just got back from vacation, and this looks pretty important. I'll get in touch with you as soon as I dig through my inbox." Or, start a message the same way, and ask them to set up a meeting.

Just some thoughts. There's no easy answer to this one!

Everyone's different. I think there are people who can't enjoy their vacation if they know that something ominous could be out there waiting for them when they return. These folks should probably set a time every morning (or evening) where they check email and voice mail once a day. I would let people know in advance that you're not going to be as reachable, but everyone will get an answer.

For me, I need to completely unplug on vacation. I even vacation specifically in a place where I have to drive several miles just to get a cell signal. When they improve reception down there, I'll simply turn off my cell phone and lock it in a drawer or something. I still feel the pull of being needed and wanting to respond, but I fight that impulse.

To get ready for vacation, I make sure there is a contact person for each of my major initiatives, and that everyone who might need it has their contact information. Here's how I schedule vacations:

- 1 week before, setup go to people to take the traffic
- 2 days before,
-- quick note to my important clients and stakeholders about what to do while I'm away
-- email to get my go to people up to speed
- 1 day before, meet with contact people if necessary to get them completely up to speed
*** VACATION *** - no contact
- 1st day back,
-- I usually "cheat" and tell external folks (not my go to people) that my vacation is still going on.
-- Use the time to catch up on email and voice mail
- 2nd day back,
-- Meet with go to people to debrief anything I wasn't CC'ed on

I know not everyone has the ability to unplug like I do, but if you can at all, I highly recommend it. Sometimes we think that we're vital to everyone else, but they can usually find a way to get along without us. :)