Taking time off? Maintain your vacation glow with these productivity tips

When you’re on vacation, the last thing you want to do is worry about work. But for some people, they can’t get the dread of unanswered emails, pending projects, and upcoming deadlines off their mind. 68% of American employees spend their precious time off the clock logging on to catch up on tasks, so they aren’t overburdened when they return to the office.

Enter the “workation” —a growing trend among remote and hybrid employees, who have the option to asynchronously work from anywhere in the world. Getting paid to respond to Slack messages while lounging on a beach chair may sound like a dream come true, but this freedom is not without drawbacks.?

The increasingly blurred lines between work and leisure can prevent employees from fully disconnecting and recharging , leading to burnout, difficulty concentrating, and diminished satisfaction when they’re back on the job. One study found that for every 10 hours of vacation time that employees took, their year-end performance improved by 8%. Another determined that using all of your vacation time might increase your chances of getting a promotion or a raise.

But constant connectivity can be stressful. Even while you’re out enjoying a new destination, the pressure of certain responsibilities can loom large and distract you from fully unwinding—a sentiment that’s only exacerbated when you’re back from vacation. So, what can you (and your team) do to make work easier for your future self, who’s enjoyed that hard-earned time off??

Below are some tips and best practices for teams looking to set their employees up for success:

• Set up a vacation responder to direct urgent emails to designated colleagues.
• Assign an AI notetaker to attend your meetings for you while you’re on PTO in order to summarize the most important details and action items to prioritize when you’re back. (Psst… here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming from Rev in the coming weeks.)
• Schedule catch-up calls ahead of time to reduce the potential for back-to-back meetings.
• Create a post-vacation checklist to ease back into your daily routine.

Take care to preserve your vacation glow; allow yourself a few days to recoup and gradually re-integrate into work. Don’t let jet lag and the pressure to catch up on work result in post-vacation anxiety and listlessness. Your travels might be over, but there’s a lot you can do to keep the stress levels low.

What’s making waves in the workplace??

Office culture might be changing, but regardless of how or where you work, water cooler talk lives on. Decades of research have shown the positive effects of mingling with colleagues, but in the age of remote work, conversation starters can sometimes be hard to come by. Worry not, we’ve got you covered!

Connect with your colleagues over these trending topics in the world of work:?

• Apparently, the secret to getting ahead at work is how much PTO you use . (Wall Street Journal)
• Attention bosses: AI tools can boost productivity, but using AI to monitor employees isn’t motivating them to work better or faster. (HR Dive)
• Do moms ever find work-life balance? Some managed to while working remotely, but RTO mandates threaten to change that. (Bloomberg)
• Turns out, multitasking could be making you work slower. Neuroscientists believe focusing on one task—monotasking—can improve productivity : According to one study, subjects who multitasked experienced drops in IQ that’s comparable to losing a night of sleep. (Fast Company)
• We’re in for a scorching summer. It’s important to hydrate and stay cool, since heat affects your body and your brain . (New York Times)

The best speech tech story of the month

A.I. Can Write Poetry, but It Struggles With Math

纽约时报 tech reporter Steve Lohr digs into a big question: As AI tools and chatbots deliver more and more impressive results on language and speech, why do they still struggle with math problems? He writes:

“The world’s smartest computer scientists, it seems, have created artificial intelligence that is more liberal arts major than numbers whiz.”

What’s on your mind about summertime productivity?

Let us know in the comments and you might see your answer featured in an upcoming newsletter!