How to actually disconnect: a project manager’s guide to taking time off

Picture this: you’re lounging by the pool. The water is the perfect shade of sparkling azure, the sun is warming your legs and you have a cocktail in hand as you swap between reading your book and enjoying the view.

Then, your phone buzzes. It’s your colleague Hannah – she has a question about the project she’s supposed to be covering this week and could you call her real quick?

Ugh. This happens so often in corporate jobs, but especially in project management, where we are the keepers of a lot of information.

But never fear, it is possible to separate life from work and actually take some time off – and here’s how you’re going to spend your next holiday with ‘tinis instead of Teams.

Holiday prep starts before you leave the office

Your mission is to prepare for your absence so well that no one can possibly say that a) they didn’t know you were on holiday and b) they needed to contact you.

This starts with preparing people in advance – let your team know, obvi, and get in touch with any stakeholders you’re working on projects for and let them know when you’re away, who to contact in your absence and ask them if they need anything from you before you finish – not only will this make them less likely to need you while you’re on holiday, but it also has the added flair of making you look organised, considerate and like you really have your sh*t together.

Your final task is to create a handover document to share with your manager, team and any stakeholders who may need something from you while you’re OOO.

The handover should include an update, what the team is currently working on, instructions for the person covering the project while you’re away and relevant links (like sprint/Kanban boards, reports, etc.) for each project and be easy for people to skim-read and find the information they need. 

Bonus points if you tag the people involved where relevant so no one can claim they didn’t see it.

Again, it’s considerate, organised and will save you from those “just wanted to know where this doc is” texts.

Set clear expectations

To me, not contacting a colleague while they’re off work seems like a no brainer, but apparently that is not the case for everyone. So you want to politely set expectations.

Create an out of office autoresponse for any communication channels you use at work like your email, Teams, Slack, etc. which clearly states which dates you will be out of office and that you will not be able to reply to messages while you are away.

You should also state who to contact in your absence in your autoresponse so if someone really does need something urgently, they have an alternative option.

The goal here is to be clear that you will not be contactable while you’re away while also being helpful.

Assign a gatekeeper

Any in-demand woman needs a gatekeeper while they’re on annual leave, someone to keep things ticking over and reduce the likelihood of you being contacted while you’re sunning yourself on a Spanish beach (and you return the favour for them, of course).

This is the person you can reference in your out of office responders, so people really have no excuse to bother you.

Ideally this will be another project manager or your own manager, but make sure you get consent before sharing other peoples’ info all around your inbox.

Delete, delete, delete

Let’s keep this one simple: DELETE WORK APPS FROM YOUR PHONE THE SECOND YOUR ANNUAL LEAVE STARTS.

If there’s an emergency, they can call you.

Remember that we’re not saving lives

Being a project manager is a difficult job to switch off from – we’re balancing so many plates and are so visible in the business that it often feels like switching off from work isn’t an option.

I know that, like me, you’re dedicated to your work and you don’t want to leave people in the lurch or appear uncommitted.

But this is a high-pressure job, and you deserve some time to unwind.

We are not saving lives. No one is going to die if you can’t answer a few Teams messages.

So switch your phone off, grab that perfectly chilled pina colada and relaaaaaaaaax.