Is Work Life Balance Still A Concern?

So many times over the last decade, a friend, co-worker or someone I have just met has looked at me and said, "Ugh! I have NO work life balance." There is also the variation which goes like this, "I need a better work life balance and I need it NOW!"

As a working mother, I have struggled with work life balance myself. I still do.

But I wonder if people are tired of talking about work life balance. Is it just assumed that there is no such thing as work life balance? That it is a myth?

I don't agree with that way of thinking. I never have considered it a myth. I think it's obtainable if you set boundaries, make sacrifices and difficult choices -- and then do your best every day to live a life that leaves you fulfilled. 

Sometimes, during the span of your career, you will put family first, or maybe yourself first. Sometimes, you will put work first (maybe not by choice). And that's just the way it is.

What I have noticed, though, is that job ads have begun using "work life balance" in their descriptions to entice people to apply. That's a huge shift from when I first started writing about the topic more than 15 years ago.

So maybe employers are more conscious that work life balance is something employees care about. 

The number of companies jockeying to be on the Best Places to Work List has increased.

So maybe employers are more conscious that people have choices about where they work and they want to work for employers that provide a good work environment. 

After many years of writing about work life balance, I plan to continue on a new blog called CindyKeepsUp.com. However, I also am adding some new topics to the conversation. I will be writing about how to stay current in a rapidly changing world where are job skills and people skills must keep up with innovation. I hope you will join me in the conversation!

Should career decisions be based on work life balance?

 

 

Recently, I was talking with a millenial who was in the middle of a job search. She thought it would be fun to work at a BMW dealership and learn all the features of the luxury cars. She imagined herself test driving the new models and playing with the gadgets inside. But when the manager of the dealership told her she would have to work many nights and weekends, she changed her mind about the job. "There is no way I'm giving up my weekends," she told me. 

My young nephew, who has been in the workforce about six months, recently told me he is not happy in his job. "I didn't expect to have to work Saturdays," he said. "I don't think I'm going to be in this job for long.

Research repeatedly has shown that millennials want work life balance. It's a huge factor in their job satisfaction. According to the 2016 Millennial Survey by Deloitte, 16.8 percent of Millennials evaluate career opportunities by good work-life balance, followed by 13.4 percent who look for opportunities to progress and 11 percent who seek flexibility (i.e., remote working and flexible hours). Millennials want the flexibility to prioritize whatever (work or life) is most important that day.

While that makes some Gen Xers and Boomers frustrated, it's a sign of the times and it's not going to change.

Still, when you think about it, isn't work life balance a concern for all of us? Workers around the globe have been finding it harder to juggle the demands of work and the rest of life in the past five years. According to the 2016 LinkedIn Censuswide Study, nearly half of American workers would give up the corner-office job and a high salary to gain more flexibility in their schedules.

Most older workers realize the more responsibility we take on as we move up the chain of command, the more we must sacrifice our work life balance. That's why the higher positions often come with higher stakes and higher pay. Sometimes though, there's a point when the pay and the job title aren't worth the lack of balance.

I have watched many people burn out and get to that point. When we no longer want to sacrifice work life balance, we have to make some tough career decisions. Now with the job market improving, I'm seeing more people make those decisions in favor of better work life balance. I'm seeing people give up promotions, change departments, change careers, and fire clients in an effort to reclaim their sanity and readjust the demands on their time. Should they make career decisions based on work life balance? If it's a priority, they should.

Today on my CindyKeepsUp blog, I wrote about how best selling author Kristin Hannah has made difficult career decisions and got them right. If we follow her lessons, we have a better chance of getting our difficult career decisions right, too.

For most employees, frustration lies with bosses who don't understand their needs:

-Millennials don't get bosses who don't realize technology frees them to work productively from anywhere.

-Gen Xers don't get why using a flexible schedule would still come with negative consequences.

-Boomers don't get co-workers who don't realize an older worker deserves a schedule that allows them to scale back but still add value to an employer.

Search the job ads and there is a LOT of language in them that advertises work life balance. Increasingly, American workers don't believe they have to choose between financial/career success or having a fulfilling personal life. Some smart employers understand that way of thinking, while others aren't responding as quickly as they need to keep their talent from leaving.

When faced with tough work life choices, it's best to think long term. It might be that your industry or role doesn't lend itself to the work life you now seek, and you have to focus on a bigger career change, not just change companies. It might be that you need to explore changing your role at your existing organization. Or it could be that you're ready to retire early, start your own business or search for a new job.

Career decisions based on work life needs are becoming increasingly common. If only more employers recognized the trend!

 

 

Don't give up on work life balance

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Twitter, I noticed this hashtag trending: #NextYearIPromiseTo.....

I'm pretty sure there were lots of people answering with....achieve a better work life balance.

For me, and for others, it's been a pretty tough year. We want to make the most of our time, but there's never enough of it to do all that we want in our jobs and our personal lives. We want to find a level of contentment, but we have these crazy busy schedules. Most of us have difficulty balancing life’s competing demands. 

 Here is some encouragement: don't give up trying!

If you are exhausted, stressed, frustrated or overworked, you can turn things around in 2018.  

The key is spending the next few days thinking about what you can easily change to help you become more fulfilled, and which life changes will take a lot more effort. 

Start with your job.

* Ask yourself some questions. Did you stay too late in the office too often? Did you take on projects that didn't pay off? Did you waste time checking email instead of doing high priority work? Did you put in a ton of extra work to get a customer, raise or promotion that never materialized? 

Having a productive and happy life as well as having a successful career requires mastering how to say no to what didn't work for you or what caused you stress and focusing on what activities did lead to results or personal satisfaction. Spend the time now to figure that out. 

* Consider how you used technology. Between apps and new devices, technology is making our lives easier, but it should not control our lives. For many people, this might mean we struggled in 2017 with powering off technology when spending time with friends and families or when focusing on certain activities. Think about what it will take to do better in the new year.

Next move on to your personal life.

*Again, ask yourself some questions. Did I show up as the friend, partner, lover, parent that I wanted to be? Did I spend enough time on activities I consider priorities? Do I need to sacrifice more to achieve career success, or did I sacrifice too much? Did I practice the self-care I need to be at my best?

* Now, ponder your answers. Which disappointments are easy to correct and which require some focused effort? Which fixes require communication with a boss or a spouse? As the clock ticks down to a brand new year there is opportunity for less stressful life than the one you led in 2017, but you're going to need to live and work differently.

Remember, people with well-maintained priorities leave work or meetings when family and friends need them. And, people who feel they have balance are present when they are engaged in activities outside the workplace. Most important, people who aren't exhausted make time for exercise and stress relief.

The key to work life balance is making conscious choices every day and being happy with those choices. Here's an article about five habits that lead to good work life balance. If you feel your life tipped out of balance this year, don't give up. Decide now what you want to do differently in 2018, write it down, put it somewhere visible, and commit to new habits for a better work life balance in the new year.

 

How to Work From Home and Enjoy Life

 

Photo by William Iven on Unsplash

 

Today my guest blogger is Lucy Wyndham who spent over a decade in HR before taking a step back to spend more time with her growing family. She now works as a freelance writer and editor specializing in helping people take control of their careers and managing work-life balance as a parent. Lucy works from home so these tips come from her personal experience. If you work from home, I  think you will find them useful.

 

Tips For Work-From-Home Moms

4 Ways To Achieve Work-Life Balance And Enjoy Life

For most work-from-home moms, achieving work-life balance can sometimes feel like chasing after a mythical creature. Women are busier than ever as a new survey reveals that 79% of working mothers are still taking on the bulk of household chores. If you work at home, it’s likely that you do even more to care for your family as you strive to balance your career with your family life. It’s also highly possible that you experience emotional distress as a poll indicates that one in four working moms cry once a week due to the stress of trying to have it all. If this is your situation, don’t despair—it’s possible to achieve work-life balance and enjoy life while you work-from-home. By getting organized, staying disciplined, and asking for help, you can earn a living, tend to your family’s needs, and be happy as you work at home.

 

Create a schedule

If you’re in the habit of doing whatever needs to be done at odd times, then you’re at risk of burning out. Create a schedule of things that you need to do and place it a highly visible area so you’re reminded of your tasks for the day. For instance, after preparing breakfast and doing the morning clean up, you can designate the next few hours for doing deep work. Stick to your schedule as much as you can and you’ll find that you get to accomplish more tasks this way

Take productive breaks

Even the busiest work-from-home mom needs to take a break. But instead of watching YouTube videos or going on Facebook, try having a productive break. You can take paid online surveys to have some extra money or meditate for a few minutes. You can even squeeze in a good workout by taking a walk around the block or doing some yoga in your living room. Or sit at your favorite spot in your home and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee. The point is to do something that will benefit you physically, mentally, emotionally, or financially, so whatever you choose to do during your break, make it count and make sure that it does you good.

Ask for help

Most moms who work at home tend to take on the lion’s share of the chores, but you don’t have to do everything yourself. Learn to delegate some tasks to your kids or partner to reduce your stress levels. Even pre-schoolers can do simple chores such as matching socks and putting away chores. Resist the urge to do simple tasks for your family because you think you can do them faster or better—the more you let your loved ones take over these chores, the more adept they’ll become in doing them in the future.

Schedule a proper “me time”

Work-from-home moms need and deserve a day off, but to enjoy it, you need to schedule a proper me time at least once a twice a week. Don’t try to squeeze in a few errands on your me time. The point is to take a few hours—or a whole day—to take care of yourself. This is the perfect time for you to schedule a massage, a manicure, or a haircut. It’s also a good opportunity to window shop and browse to your heart’s content, to try eating at that new restaurant that your kids would never go to, and to indulge in your hobbies, such as meeting with your book club. Don’t feel guilty about taking time for yourself and keep in mind that investing in your personal wellness is just as important as taking care of your family’s needs.

 

Achieving work-life balance is a challenge, but it can be done. Remember to look after yourself while you earn a living and care for your family, and don’t be too hard on yourself. Happiness can be achieved if you remember to take care for yourself while maintaining a well-rounded lifestyle.

 

 

 

Awesome insight from a woman at the top of her field

Can you be a big corporate big wig and have a personal life? Can you stay at the top of your field as a woman, in a male-heavy industry?

Yes you can!

When Lonnie Maier spoke at Nova Southeastern University’s Women’s Success Series recently, the college students arrived eager hear what she had to say on those topics, and a good number of adults came to hear her, too.

Lonnie, vice president of Enterprise Sales and Marketing for Fibernet Direct, told the audience about her personal journey to become an executive at a leading national telecommunications company. Lonnie Maier is vice president of enterprise sales and marketing for Fibernet Direct, a company with operations throughout Florida and the Southeastern United States.

As a successful corporate executive, she had plenty of advice to share on work life balance and Bay O’Leary, a NSU associate professor, chair of the marketing department and one of the creators of the series asked her the right questions to draw out those pearls of wisdom:

On her biggest work life challenge….

Early in my career, I commuted to Miami from Fort Lauderdale. I was never late to work, but I was always late coming home. I would make a commitment to my family to be home by a certain time and then I would be late. At work, I never wanted to say no so I would take on more than I could chew and then I would be late. Eventually, I had to learn to prioritize my family so I didn’t continuously let them down. They would joke about “Lonnie’s time” referring to my being late all the time.

 

On giving herself a work life balance report card….

Giving myself a report card is tough. My daughters are 27 and 22 and when I look at them I would say I earn an A+ all the way. I am celebrating 35 years of being married so I get high grades there, too. When comes to work though, I am always trying to do more, and with me it’s never good enough. There is always another project, another result I want to achieve. I have high expectations of myself.

 

On advice to young women new in their careers….

Prioritize and don’t personalize. As young people new to business, we tend to say yes to everything. There comes a point where the only way you can become good at certain things is to say no to other things, in a nice way. Early in my career, if I wasn’t included in a meeting, I might personalize something. Eventually, I realized you can’t do everything and be included in everything. If want to be involved, I reach out. I wanted to get involved in economic development. I got involved. After a while, people would say, “Lonnie can you head up this committee?” I would have to say, “I have a full-time job and I need to focus on my job.”

 

On what she looks for in her team…..

People who can articulate why they are a good fit for the job. I look for candidates who are proud of their accomplishments.

 

On how she handles an employee who is struggling with work life balance…

I try to be flexible with schedules and offer ideas or solutions for problems. But if it becomes an ongoing issue, then I need to sit down and talk to that person.

 

On changes or cracks in the glass ceiling in Corporate America….

I have seen a willingness from men to listen more over the years. Still, I see lot of men at top and not as many women. My company was sold and when I met with prospective buyers, there were few that had women in decision-making seats. It was frustrating to see the glass ceiling was still there. We had a lot of women on our management team at FiberNet and we were getting things done. Overall, there are not many women at the top in telecommunications. It’s an opportunity. Young women should feel there are no limitations for them, just opportunities everywhere. It’s our job as leaders to help them see that.

 

On finding mentors…..

If you have problem, don’t be afraid to ask for advice. A lot of informal mentoring can take place just by asking. If you see someone with a similar path to the one you want to take, ask them questions. Often, women see asking questions as a weakness. The best way to show it is not a weakness is by being there for them when they need it.

 

On self-care….

 

I go on long walks and before I go bed, I take time to reflect and do my praying.

 

On personal work life choices….

 

I look at my friends in the C -suite and they don’t have kids. That was personal choice they made. At one point, when my boss retired I was told “you can become president” but I said “no thank you I like what I do.” You must know what you are good at and where you need to be to get the results. You don’t need to feel you must be at the top to lead a fulfilling career. 

 

On supporting other women…

 Whatever level you are at, you need to be supportive of other women. The people who propelled me, who pushed me the most were other women. You need a gang of girls around you to need to leverage their strengths. Don’t ever look at other females as competition.

 

Thanks Lonnie for awesome advice!

 

 

Bay O'Leary asking Lonnie Maier about her experience in Corporate America

 

Investing in "What Matters" Over "Having it all"

 

(From R to L: Monique , Paula Glickenhaus, Kathleen Procario, Claudia Chen)

 

 

A least 100 women are gathered in a conference room -- and two men.

We are waiting to listen to a panel discussion on Investing in "What Matters" over "Having it All" at the S.H.E. Summit Bacardi in Miami. The panel looks interesting to me as I gaze at the white board with bios on the speakers. And then, the discussion begins....

Here is what I take away from the conversation that follows:

1. Investing in your relationship with your spouse, partner, significant other should be high on your priority list. (It matters!)

The moderator is Claudia Chan, founder of SHE Summit and author of This IS How We Rise.  Claudia tells us she is struggling with raising a two year old, seven month old, writing a book,  keeping her marriage strong, and running her organization. I've heard discussions on work life balance many, many, many times. But Claudia brings up a point that rarely gets mentioned. She aims for balance not as an individual, but as part of a couple. Claudia prioritizes she and her husband "getting on the same page." When investing in what matters most, she considers her marriage her top priority.

"If you're good as a couple, your children will feel more confident when they see mom and dad in good place," she said. "Your relationship with your partner is your most important relationship."

2. Outsourcing will look different for each of us, depending on our income, but it can be crucial to having time for priorities. 

Panelist Paula Glickenhaus, Vice President of Global Indirect Procurement with Bacardi Limited, travels often for her high-powered job. She has a grown daughter who is 22 and a son who is 9. To keep up with her many responsibilities, she exercises wherever she is in any way she can..."If I am in Miami, I swim. If I am in New York, I do yoga. If I am in Switzerland, I run." But to have me time, work time, spouse time and child time, Paula outsources. She outsources A LOT. "I do procurement ...so even at work I outsource everything I can." Paula said the goal of outsourcing is to ensure family time is the best quality it can be.

When prodded, Paula detailed exactly what she outsources:

• Homework: "I can't help my kids with homework. I have no patience. So I find a tutor who can help them until the age they don’t need help anymore. I did it with my daughter and now with son."
• Sports. "My son is good at soccer, but the coach said he needs to practice more. I found a coach online and recruited a few other kids in the same boat who can be coached as a group." 
• Driving. "I have a nanny, but she is not full time. She picks my son up from school and takes him to activities."
• Lunches. I tried to get my son to buy the school lunch but the quality came time and he wanted to bring a lunch box. Rather than take that extra half hour in the morning, I use FreshDirect to make his lunches. They also have some amazing snacks." 

3. Set your priorities one day at a time. 

Kathleen Procario, HR & Talent Management  for Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits, said you can’t do it all, so you need to start to focus on what’s most important today. Most of us wear many titles: sister, brother, husband, wife, friend, parent, employee. "We have to figure out which of those jobs matter right now," shw said.

 

4. Going "all in" at work is okay, but get your partner on board. 

Monique Catoggio runs a business from home. So does her husband who also is an entrepreneur. She wants to give her business a lot of attention, so does her husband. So they take turns with the home stuff to give the other person the ability to focus on work stuff.  "We both prioritize making our business profitable so we have learned to find harmony in our home," she said.

To keep that harmony, they speak up when they need something from the other. "When I see resistence, I tell him you're not supporting me in the way I need you to and we have to talk about it," she said. Monique said it can be challenging to find time for those conversations. "Usually when the kids go to bed, that’s our time.  Sometimes we have a heart-to-heart over TV shows."  The biggest risk is not communicating, she said. "Don’t let it get far down road."

5. Someone needs to deal with the logistics. They matter.

There are bills to pay, appointments to make, home repairs to deal with and supplies that need to be restocked. Someone has to handle the logistics of daily life and running a household. When there are children, the logistics rise exponentially. Those small things can build resentment if one person in a household feels he or she is handling a disproportionate amount. However, if the other person takes on the task, there can be no second guessing, or nit picking. "When you divide and conquer whatever your partner takes on, let them do it their way," Monique said.

 

6. Don't ask, tell.

Paula said she doesn't ask her husband if it's okay to go to the gym. She tells him when she is going. She doesn't ask her boss when she can take vacation. She tells him to put it on his calendar. Investing in what matters over having it all means asserting yourself to get what matters to you.

 

7. Take a pause, often.

People get stuck or feel overwhelmed because they don’t find time to understand themselves, Monique said. "We make ourselves busier than we should be."

That's why we need to create more moments of pause...to make time to figure out what matters most.

"It doesn’t have to be two hours. When you give yourself time to create clarity, you can think about what you want your relationship to feel like and if it's not the relationship you want, you can do something about it," she said.

 

While these business women might not have all the solutions, I think they had some great wisdom to share -- for both the men and women in the room!

 

 

How to take stuff off your schedule

 

A friend call me today to tell me she wants to do more networking to further her career. She has come up with a great idea for workshops she wants to offer, and now she wants to go out and meet the right people to hire her. 

I could certainly relate to her ambition. However, my friend has four children under the age of 10, which limits her free time and challenges her work life balance.

The first thing I told her is that she needs to figure out how much time each week she can devote to networking and she must get a clear idea of who she considers her ideal business target. Figuring that out takes some honest contemplation, a marketing plan, and a hard look at her weekly schedule. I told her she likely will need to take some existing tasks off her schedule if she wants to make time for networking.

"What? Take something off my schedule?" she asked me, surprised at my suggestion.  She confessed she didn't know where to begin. My friend's scenario is common. It's easy to say we want to do more of something - spend more time networking, hanging out with family, prospecting new customers - but taking tasks off our schedule to make it happen gets tricky. My conversation with my friend inspired me to create a guide for how to take tasks off your schedule. So, here are my five tips for how to do it.

1. Take a really hard look at where you spend your time.

      Often, we waste hours on tasks like browsing Facebook or checking email. It's easy to fill up time when           you don't have a plan. Those wasted hours are the ones you want to take off your schedule. You then can       use that time for your high priority tasks.

 

       2. Know where you have flexibility and where you don't. 

       Be honest with yourself about what tasks you choose to do and which you must to do to keep your work         life balance and your sanity. Know where you have flexibility in your schedule, and where you don't. A        friend insisted she be the one to pick her child up from daycare  at 5 p.m. It led to numerous             confrontations with her boss. When she finally agreed to let her mother pick up her child, taking that        one task off her scheduled alleviated her stress level and improved her workplace relationships. 

      

       3. Figure out what you need to accomplish, and what you can outsource.

         Can you get someone else to do the driving to and from your children's soccer games? Can you ask an         assistant in your office to take over making copies? Can your spouse drive your child to school so you          can go to morning networking breakfasts?  Many successful networkers have the time to devote to it         because they are awesome outsourcers.

        4. Decide which tasks no longer have the meaning they once did.

        My friend is on the board of her local library. She has decided there are other, less time consuming ways         to be involved with the library. She has decided not to continue after her term is up. That will free up         time for her to network in new ways and new places.

 

        5. Get creative. 

        Technology creates the ability to do things differently, from paying bills to managing our calendars to         sending certain email directly into folders. By automating some of the things we do, we can take them         off our schedules.

 

 

The key to better time management is being honest with ourselves about how we spend our time, and being willing to make trade offs. Fall is one of the busiest times of the year. As you consider taking more on, it may be the ideal time to take stuff off your schedule, too.

What we learned from Hurricane Irma about losing internet

                             

In the week after Hurricane Irma, life stood still. Power was out. Internet was down. People in Florida were on the verge of insanity. 

Many of us didn't know how to handle being disconnected from Wi Fi. And so, the true test of our obsession with connectivity began to emerge. 

Two days after the storm, my sister-in-law called to tell me she had set up a temporary office in Dunkin Donuts. My sister in law said couldn't stand hanging around in her hot home without power, television or Internet. So she took her daughter to the doughnut shop, which had wi fi,  handed her daughter an iPad and set up her laptop. "I'm back in business," she said, sounding as if she had just won the lottery.

Across town, I had friends who lived in areas where there was no where to go for Wi Fi because businesses in their area were without power and closed. Even when those friends called to tell me their power had come back on, they spoke as if they were completely out of sorts because they still had no Internet.

Yes, we are a nation that wants to be connected. As much as we complain about the fact that work follows us home, and as much as we complain about our lack of work life balance, we don't want to disconnect. Let's admit the truth: we have developed such a compulsion for checking email, googling information and texting from our devices that we don't know how to balance our lives without Internet service.

On the flip side, I had friends who relished the days while their offices were closed and the kids were home from school. Sure it was hard to get out of the daily work/school routine. But there was an upside to the post-Irma chaos in that it provided some quality time with family and friends.

Once there was a time when people chanted the lyrics, "I want my MTV."  I think the lesson we learned from Irma is we now want much more than our MTV. We want power. We want cell phone use. We want Internet. We want connectivity and we're willing to sacrifice some downtime, balance and maybe even some of our sanity to get it!

Inside a food truck and the struggle for work life balance

One day, I was walking around the Wynwood Second Saturday Art Walk when I came across Michael Kritikos and his The Original Greek food truck. His gyros were yummy and his smile was big, so I decided to find out a little more about the highs and lows of operating a food truck in South Florida.

Is it fun? What are the challenges? Do the rewards outweigh the challenges? Most important, how does a food truck owner find work life balance when every minute you are cooking and serving is money in your pocket and time off is lost income?

Michael had just returned from his first vacation in many years and had a lot to say about the challenges of running a mobile food business and balancing a personal life.

Here is Michael set up and ready to serve his yummy Greek food at Wynwood's Second Saturday Art Walk. You can tell from this photo that he loves what he does for a living.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When your co-worker takes vacation

In case you're keeping score, yes your co-worker just took two-weeks off and you're left to do his/her work. So what are you going to do about it?

You can easily become the person who stays late every night carrying a double workload. You can just as easily become the person who does only what's reasonable for your boss or clients to expect when you're a man down. 

Let's say you're the worker who wants to look like a team player and pick up the slack for your vacationing colleague. My advice is to proceed with caution. That's a dangerous road you're about to embark on. You want your clients to be understanding, your boss to think highly of you, your co-worker to cover for you when it's your turn to vacation. But, you don't want to be the go-to person who covers for everyone who takes a vacation. You certainly don't want to be the person who walks around the office resentful, snapping at anyone who dares to ask you a question because you're overwhelmed and overworked.

You may need to assess exactly what's expected. Is it just filling in for the person at a few meetings or handling all of their client calls. Is it short term, or could taking on someone else's responsibility for a few weeks lead to taking it on permanently. Yes, you definitely want to proceed with caution and have a conversation with your manager if necessary. Can that project wait for your co-worker to get back? Can you  

Now, there can be a positive for you. Summer can be a great time to put some energy in the work side of work life balance. Covering for a co-worker on vacation can help you get ahead by proving yourself.  Summer can also be ideal for pondering your desired future and trying out a role that interests you.

Most important, regardless of whether others take time off, don't be afraid to take your own vacation days. Even if you're the new guy or  have lots on your plate, you need time off to re-energize and the slower summer tend to be the perfect for it. Even if you don't go anywhere, or can't afford to travel, taking time off helps keep you positive.

According to Project Time Off, employees who take most or all of their vacation time each year perform better, are more productive and more satisfied in their jobs.

If you are the vacationing co-worker, think about how you can make life easier on others while you're gone. You might leave specific instructions about what you consider top priority and what can wait for your return. Taking vacation knowing you've done everything possible to help out co-workers left behind benefits everyone. Hopefully, your coworkers will show the same courtesy to you.

It's normal to worry what covering for a vacationing co-worker will do to your workload. Ask for notes, figure out what's reasonable and have a conversation with your manager ahead of time. With lots of people gearing up to take summer vacation, you don't want to be the sucker in the office stuck there until midnight.