Vacation, Interrupted

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1507-dockVacation days in the U.S. are gradually dwindling, as large groups of people, especially younger workers, aren’t taking advantage of their days off. A Google Consumer Survey revealed that 43 percent of Americans did not take a day off last summer, and employees are rejecting their hard-earned vacation days, as four in 10 Americans are leaving an average of 3.2 days of paid time off unused each year. This news is unhealthy, and needs to be reversed, because vacations are good for the heart and soul.

If at all possible, take a vacation from the responsibilities and stresses at work and unplug completely from the phone and laptop. When work demands don’t allow a 100 percent break, limit time away from family and friends by blocking out short periods of time and focus on being highly productive and efficient.

So if you are now thinking that you would like to go on vacation, then now is the time to start planning it. Planning a vacation can be stressful, but if you are organized and do things properly then it will run much more smoothly. For example if you start planning early, you could find that you are able to fly on a rental private jet should you find the right company and finances to do so, or even embark on a much longer trip than you anticipated. Taking a high-end vacation can be a very efficient way to recharge and relax. There are also other things you can use to help, such as online packlists. You can find a packlist for pretty much any type of vacation. For example, Rent.is has a packlist for a camping holiday in Iceland. Getting something planned for the future will make you feel much better. If you haven’t had a vacation in years then it probably would be a good idea to make sure that you get time off work, which in itself will be a treat. Whether you want to look into Austin RV Rentals or you’d like to jet off to Australia, going somewhere new can be a fun and exciting adventure. There are loads of places that you can go to though. For example, you might be interested in checking out the Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan, but there are loads of places that you could go to. You just have to find one that suits you and also suits your budget.

Unified communications, collaboration and mobile solutions provide many of the same resources available at work while at a hotel, café or relatives’ home. With these productivity enablers, those emails and voicemails can be handled quickly, an online web conference can be completed in an hour, and a quick IM can address questions in minutes. These tools allow employees to stay on top of work projects without losing entire days of vacation fun.

Calls and emails in one place for fast review and responses. Email boxes fill up fast. With UC and mobile resources, work emails are routed to the mobile phone where they can be prioritized for answering during the blocked out work hour or handled after the vacation is over.

Incoming phone calls and voicemails also can be moved to the mobile phone and organized to save time. The audio message is streamed to the mobile device where all recent activity can be tracked. Employees can review and respond to a customer with a question or a coworker with a problem. When a voicemail does need a response, make the call without getting stuck with a huge calling fee by moving incoming calls on to the Wi-Fi and off the cellular network to avoid call charges.

Join a can’t-miss meeting. The business doesn’t stop during vacations and sometimes an employee needs to be on a conference call or online meeting. The powerful combination of UC tools and a mobile client integrates calendars and streamlines scheduling, managing and participating in audio or online conferences. Employees can join multimedia work sessions through their laptops, tablets or phones and easily share spreadsheets or presentation materials with others in the meeting.

Keep deliverables and projects on track to meet upcoming deadlines. Deadlines don’t move and that can make vacations inconvenient. A quick IM or text can help a colleague make a decision that will keep the business-at-hand moving forward.

Visuals are another great, quick way to share knowledge and help colleagues avoid confusion on important projects. Desktop sharing shows a coworker or a client the hard-to-explain specifics and quickly reveals processes or details that may not be easily understood through email or voicemail.

Understand the Value of Vacations

Balancing work and life is always difficult, and vacations add another layer of complexity. Studies show that days off lead to better health and more productivity. Earned vacations should be taken without guilt because business and work projects can move steadily forward by checking in for short periods when it’s absolutely necessary. The many communication options in mobile, UC and collaboration tools will keep the work on track for those critical times when employees can’t completely check out on their days off.

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