- Switching off from work is hard for many of us, but research suggests vacation has a strong effect on well-being, and that genuinely not thinking about work while you’re away may be among the healthiest things you can do.
- With Thanksgiving and the holidays approaching, the column offers practical tips for leaving work at work and carving out moments for yourself, whether you’re working through the break, don’t have help on hand, or your time off looks very different.
I missed a deadline last week. The piece you’re reading was supposed to be filed before I headed out on a long weekend to Italy for my wife’s birthday.
It’s a trip we try to take every November, one where we leave the kids behind with their Granny for a few days of relaxation and indulgence – for all of us. The kids and Granny get cookies, ice cream, and bedtime stories on tap. We get spritzes, pasta, and an all-too-rare chance to sleep in.
The main problem was I simply ran out of time to write the piece. An urgent stakeholder ask out of the blue, a couple of unanticipated work fire drills, and a long-standing evening social commitment earlier in the week made for a perfect storm, and something had to give.
The other problem and consequence was that I carried a chunk of guilt into the break.
It caught up with me at 6 am on the first morning, when I found myself drafting this column in my head. I should have been dozing peacefully. I continued to ruminate on my lengthy to-do list at work deep into day one as we headed from Venice into the Dolomites. My body was in Italy, but my brain was clearly still at my desk.
Why switching off from work is so hard
Switching off, particularly from work, is hard for most of us, and especially in an age of ubiquitous screens and wall-to-wall information competing for our attention. For me, that always-on reality plays a major role in the difficulties I have disconnecting from the daily grind.
Practical tips for leaving work at work:
- Set your own rules for when you’re reachable. Decide when you’ll check email and when you won’t, and tell your manager what’s realistic outside working hours.
- Swap some passive screen time for something purposeful. A book, time outdoors, a hobby. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of binge-watching, but something creative can feel more restorative.
- Write down what’s stressing you. A quick log of triggers and how you reacted can show you patterns you’d otherwise miss.
- Ask for help, and lean on your people. Reassign, delegate, or let family and friends cover something. Feeling supported can make it easier to detach when the day is done.
- If exhaustion lingers, talk with a professional. Persistent fatigue, or changes in mood, appetite or sleep, are worth raising with a doctor or therapist.
What the science says about detaching from work
Regardless of the role the screen plays, psychologists who study employee well-being describe what I was missing for the early part of the weekend as “psychological detachment.” A state where you are genuinely able to not think about work while away from it. The science suggests it’s an important thing to work on.
A 2025 meta-analysisTrusted Source of 32 studies found that vacationing has a strong effect on well-being, and that the effect lasts longer than earlier research suggested. A second, smaller analysis of eight studies points to detaching from work, along with physical activity, as among the most helpful things to do while you’re off. In another study that tracked teachersTrusted Source during a two-week break, exhaustion, anxiety, and low mood all declined, while those who kept ruminating about work recovered less.
Whatever the science says, I know that for me the act of stepping away from work and being disciplined about not checking back in while I’m away is critical for my mental health and for staving off burnout. Getting out in nature and hiking or cycling or swimming keeps me present. It resets and recharges my batteries, and it tops up my creativity in a way that I find benefits what I am then able to bring back to the office.
Sure enough, as we drove deeper into the mountains on a crisp, blue-sky day, I could feel the golden autumnal hues and majestic rock formations drawing me in, closer to an elemental feeling of calm and happiness. That sense of equilibrium stayed with me all weekend, and while I’d be lying if I said my mind didn’t occasionally drift to my desk, it was fleeting, with the knowledge that all the things would be waiting for me when I got back. Just like this piece was.
