Episode 5: Your Vacation Should Not Feel Like a Mobile Office

If you're checking emails, responding to messages, working on projects, or constantly checking in while you're on vacation, you may not be getting the rest you need.

Many healthcare and human services professionals struggle to unplug because they care deeply about the people they serve. But vacation isn't just time away from work—it's an opportunity to rest, reflect, and reconnect with yourself.

In this episode of Helping from the Inside Out, Rosa Jones explores why helpers often find it difficult to disconnect and shares a simple question that can help you make the most of your time away.

Key Takeaway:

Your vacation isn't a reward for surviving your work. It's an investment in the person doing the work.

Watch the Episode

Transcript

Welcome to Helping from the Inside Out, a weekly moment of encouragement for human services and healthcare professionals. If your work is to care for others, this space is for you. Each week, we offer a short reminder to protect your well-being so you can keep serving with strength. This podcast is brought to you by Freedom Support Services, where our vision is to heal people who heal the world. So if you're on vacation and you are answering email, answering your work phone, working on projects, or trying to keep up with your colleagues, congratulations. You've turned your vacation into a mobile office.

Listen, I'm not here to judge you because I've done all of those things at some point in my life. And the truth is that if your job requires you to help people or serve people, listen, it's tough to unplug, even when it's time to vacation, right?

We have a hard time letting go because maybe we don't trust that the people at work are gonna pick up the slack. Or maybe we really strongly identify with our work, and it's hard to disconnect from doing. We might feel uncomfortable when we're not so busy. But the hard truth about it is that we've got to lean into the rest when it's time to take a break.

A lot of us are not comfortable with just being. So when the work stops, instead of finding a way to be, it's easier to just do something because that's what we're comfortable with. Busyness and just working can become a habit. Productivity can be one of those things that just feels easier than rest. And maybe you don't really have the strongest sense of yourself when you're resting.

But that doesn't mean that we don't need it. When we're on vacation, we need to remember to lean into being a human being. Focus on being that friend, being that parent, being that sister or brother, just being who you are outside of your work, because guess what? You are more than just what you do at work. There's more to you than just what you do for other people.  And vacation is a really good time for that.

So there are really three things we need to be focusing on on vacation. And I call it the 3 Rs. We need to focus on rest, reflection, and relaxation.

Listen, vacation is a time to rest and allow your body to catch up with your mind, right? Because life moves fast and sometimes where we are mentally and where we are physically or emotionally, they're not in sync. Slowing down gives you a chance to do that.

The vacation also gives you a time to reflect. You need to reflect on what you've been doing in the last season in your life. Is there something to celebrate, to be proud of? Or there also could be things where you've been learning and growing. It's important for you to recognize that, those things. Maybe there are things that you need to change and that you want to do better. When you don't reflect, you don't have clarity.

So we've got to slow down and reflect to get the clarity that we need. Because when you've got clarity and then you get back to work or whatever it is you want to get back to, you can go with speed in the right direction. And so I want you to do yourself a favor. As you head off to vacation during this season, I want you to catch yourself.

If you try to turn it into a mobile office, and if you find yourself doing that, or just even feeling uncomfortable with not having anything to do, I want you to pause and to ask yourself:

• What is it that I need to offer to me?
• What is it that I want to get out of this vacation?

I want you to sit with that, answer the question, and give yourself what you need or what you want to get out of this. Because listen, vacation is not a reward, right? For all of the work, the hard work that you've done. It really is just a time for you to come back to you, reset, so that you can continue to work and live with purpose and intention. Did this bless you? Do this for me.

Share this with someone who needs the reminder not to turn their vacation into a mobile office. Thank you so much for listening today.

If this has helped you, be sure to hit the subscribe button wherever you're watching or listening. Share this with another healer or helper who gives so much to others. Visit us at www.myfreedomss.com/podcast for more resources.

Until next time, keep helping from the inside out.

About Helping from the Inside Out

Helping from the Inside Out is a short weekly podcast for healthcare and human services professionals. Each episode offers practical encouragement and simple reminders to help you care for yourself while caring for others.