There is no in-between for the founder of the ever-growing HR consulting firm VIE People. Wendy only knows two modes: on and off. And on she was. Years ago, not long after starting her business, she was in Spain with her young children and husband. "Every time her husband looked away, the kids were in the pool or going for ice cream, I was emailing or making acquisition calls." Wendy laughs as she recalls sitting on a terrace next to the pool, finally turning off her laptop, sighing and thinking, now time for a nice beer...and suddenly realizing it was the last day of her vacation. "It was utterly ridiculous; I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed that I was ruining my time with my family. I was so disillusioned." When she got home, she had to drag herself to work. She felt tired.

Now, more than a decade later, Wendy has perfected her off strategy. With her six tips, you'll switch off completely during a wonderful vacation and return to work inspired and energized.

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Make yourself partially redundant

A great vacation starts with the right preparation. How do you ensure that your organization continues to run smoothly even during your absence? By constantly asking yourself if you are the only one who can do the job? We often think so but of course not. Look at all the big companies...those CEOs really don't do the work that you do every day.What really needs to be done during your vacation, take a critical look at what can you do and what do you transfer to others on your team. You can start with that when you come back from vacation and think about everything you did, how can I make sure I don't have to do that again next year. You can be sure that your company will grow as a result because your attention can then go to other things. 

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Extend the length of your vacation each year

How healthy is your organization? Put it to the test by taking a vacation. "When scaling up, you should be able to take at least a two-week break without jeopardizing your business," Wendy explains. When scaling up, take longer vacations each year to test whether your business will continue to run without your input. In addition to being a good health indicator of your business, it's important for entrepreneurs to take regular breaks because it keeps things in perspective. "Throughout the year, I want to take my business to the next level. I want to work harder, better, faster, stronger. But when I'm back from vacation, I can step back and see the bigger picture better"

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If you want a month's vacation, take 6 weeks off

"I now always take 6 weeks off during the kids' summer vacation." The trick is to use the first week to finish the last bits of work. "At the end of the first week, make a priority list so you know exactly where to start when you return to work. You'll see that what you prioritize before you go on vacation versus coming back can be very different. Then drop everything, switch off and enjoy a relaxing 4-week vacation. If you use the last week to slowly get into work mode, you'll avoid an after-holiday blues. More importantly, it allows you to catch up so you can get to work the following Monday.

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Set an absence and ignore your inbox
To get back to work truly rested, setting up the right out-of-office is crucial. By "right" we mean that it manages expectations. The message should be simple and clear: you can reach me, but only for important matters. For everything else, you can email my colleague. Wendy: "I always give my contacts the option to send me a message via my phone if it's urgent, but I rarely receive messages. People respect each other's free time. That's nice to experience." Save yourself and your colleague work by calling your customers to action - they only do this in case of an emergency. "When we were smaller I did as follows: I took six weeks off but wrote that I was gone for three weeks. After three weeks, I took a day to pay my employees' salaries, do my taxes and read my most important emails. Then I changed my return date to three weeks from then."

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Use your vacation to evaluate
A long break is the perfect opportunity to take a moment to reflect on how things are going. Much better than, say, the end of the year. December is a busy month, so take time during your vacations to ask yourself if you are satisfied with what you have accomplished that year and with how the business is growing. "Your own strength is the company's greatest weakness, and you don't notice your company's weaknesses until you take a break from it." Use the rest of the year to polish and improve those things. "My business was still running smoothly when I came back from my vacation," Wendy explains. But she did notice that they were falling behind on acquisition. "The focus came to really transfer the sales piece and ongoing that year to be busy transferring and getting better and better at sales in my teams."

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Give yourself a bonus if your business is still alive when you return
If your business is intact when you return, it means you did an excellent job. "Reward your hard work with a bonus -hahaha. It helps you fund the next vacation and it's a great incentive to do even better next time."

"So plan your leave now for next year and take this year to prepare your organization for your absence! Please let me know if you succeeded at wendy@viepeople.com and we will send you an incentive gift - hahaha. This is your first vacation bonus.