If you can't take time off, it's not just a vacation problem
This is my fourth newsletter on vacation and rest. With summer holidays in full swing, it feels like the perfect moment to revisit this.
I recently read an article in Harvard Business Review called "A Guide to Handing Off Work Before a Vacation." On the surface, it's a practical article about preparing colleagues, creating handover documents, and setting up out-of-office messages. But as I read it, I kept thinking: This isn't really about vacation. It's about trust.
As a burnout coach, I've noticed that many high achievers struggle to take time off for reasons that have very little to do with calendars. They worry: "What if something goes wrong?" "What if nobody can do it like I do?" "What if I come back to a disaster?" "What if they realize they don't need me?" So instead of truly handing things off, they stay partially connected. Checking emails. Monitoring messages. Solving problems from the beach. Keeping one eye on work at all times.
The result? They leave physically but never mentally.
The article reminds us that a successful vacation doesn't begin the day you leave. It begins weeks beforehand. Notifying people. Preparing others. Documenting key information. Clarifying priorities. Creating a backup plan. These are practical steps. But they also require something much harder: Trusting other people. Trusting your team. Trusting that imperfect is good enough. Trusting that the organization can function without your constant supervision.
Many of us secretly wear our indispensability as a badge of honor. But being indispensable is often exhausting. Healthy organizations are resilient. Healthy leaders develop others. Healthy teams know how to function when one person is away. And healthy people take vacations without carrying the entire company on their shoulders.
Perhaps the goal isn't to become more indispensable. Perhaps the goal is to become more replaceable. Not because you aren't valuable. But because your value should not depend on your inability to step away.
This summer, if you're preparing for some time off, ask yourself: What would need to change for me to fully unplug? The answer may reveal more about your burnout risk than any stress assessment ever could.
P.S. Ready to work together? I have a few openings for 1:1 coaching and am available for burnout workshops. Just hit reply to explore what's possible!