A career consultant talks about the dangers of working while on vacation

“Officials have the best rest – they don’t worry about official matters at all.”

Over the past few years, Russians have increasingly combined vacations with work. Some people finish their work in the first days of vacation, while others constantly stay in touch, answering work emails and calls. What is the reason for such workaholism – with the high availability of the Internet, with the habit of constantly keeping your finger on the pulse that arose during the pandemic, with the fear of losing your place?

Career consultant and founder of the recruitment agency Hurma Recruitment Ekaterina Starodubtseva-Kalacheva told Moskovsky Komsomolets about the newfangled trend.

Firstly, the pandemic and remote work have left their mark. When you don’t leave home and interact with colleagues only online, the boundaries between working time and rest hours are blurred. For example, during the working day you can rest a little if there are not many tasks, and move the work to late evening. This scheme also applies to vacations.

Secondly, constantly being in touch with work is a kind of grounding, a feeling of ground under your feet. Some are afraid of losing this stability and contact with the team during the holidays. Although, of course, this is unlikely after a few weeks of rest. However, not everyone can let go of business processes precisely for these reasons.

Thirdly, the “under-vacation” is affected by the shortage of personnel in the labor market. Due to a shortage of hands, some employees took on multiple roles at once. Accordingly, the number of tasks has increased significantly. In such conditions, it is very difficult to afford proper rest, because too many work processes depend on employees.

Adequate rest and disconnection from work processes are very important, but not available to everyone. One is afraid of losing control over the situation, another does not know how to delegate tasks, and the third works in a field where vacation is something difficult to achieve.

– In what areas do people not allow themselves proper rest?

– Most often this phenomenon is observed in consulting. The field itself is so specific that it requires work 24/7 and 7/0 (without full days off), so it is difficult for specialists to leave work tasks even for a short time. And employees of government agencies and large companies have the best rest. There are many more employees and resources to perform current tasks, so there is always someone who will pick up, and the work processes themselves are extremely structured.

– What can we do to finally relax without anxiety and work calls?

– First, you should learn to delegate tasks and defend your right to rest. Before your vacation, make a list of tasks and distribute them among your colleagues. Let everyone, including your manager, know that you will only be available for urgent matters. And yes, they should be truly urgent and relate to those projects in which only you are immersed. If you don’t set these boundaries, you run the risk that burnout will hit you so quickly that no amount of vacation will help you cope with it.