Rest and relaxation should hassle-free without worrying the job left behind

It’s here — summer, and with it, of course, summer vacation. The bell rings with Memorial Day, but July 4 was when the airports hit full stride and the crowds of tourists have materialized at sights all over the world. Half the fun is traveling, finding yourself in a new place, and half the fun is being away from the responsibilities of your job.

Did you wait all year for your getaway, planning it down to the last taxi-connection? That’s great. But did you perhaps spend too much energy counting the days to get out from under the fluorescent lights at the office, or the blue-green glow of your computer screen in your home office?

That’s not so great.

Vacation is a time to relax, to expand our horizons, to let the stresses of work fall away. If all goes right, it’s also a time to recharge our batteries. In a perfect world, we should return to work full of enthusiasm, perhaps with a few vexing problems solved when, sitting on the beach or in a café or hiking in the mountains, our brains finally had the bandwidth to come up with solutions.

But if we see vacation as too much of an escape from our jobs, if we just can’t wait to get the hell away, then we need to get a good hard look at our lives, and the work we do or would like to do.

Because when the cruise ship docks, when the bus from Disney World pulls up to the airport and the driver announces, “The magic is over,” that job is still there waiting for us, unchanged. It’s a horrible position to be in — to start counting the days all over again.

If this is you, then the first thing you need to do is look at the job itself. Can it be readjusted or redefined?

Is your boss a jerk? If that’s the case, you aren’t alone. Does the jerkiness stay on your nerves when you go home?

This isn’t the biggest problem in the world. It’s like being angry about traffic or the weather. So reframe the equation. If you enjoy your work, but don’t like your boss, focus on those things that you find satisfying, and accept the jerkiness as one of those daily challenges that, alas, are unavoidable if you are a member of the human race.

Are you tired of the work itself? Jobs tend to have an arc — the first six months can be exhilarating and terrifying, followed by a period of a few years where you totally get it and how to do it but also find it fresh and new. But at some point, the work becomes rote and stale.

Naturally, pushing for a promotion — figuring out how you can bring value to the employer and thus move up – is something to always consider. But depending on your role and level of expertise and the size of your employer, that’s not always possible. So instead, how can you redefine the work you are already doing?

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Offering to take on more responsibility for the same pay — putting your hand up for more work — might seem crazy, but it will surely get those synapses firing again, and, when a possible promotion arises, it will put you in a strong position.

Vacation is the perfect time to read and research and explore ideas, to figure out ways to make yourself more valuable at work.

Of course, being away from your job does give us time to think: should I quit my job if I dread returning? Sometimes you’ve got to take a leap. Life is too short. But I’m not going to be Pollyanna here. It’s a tough choice, and often involves sacrifice and risk. But what better time to discuss with your family when you are all on the lido deck drinking a margarita?

That’s a tough one, and a good hard look at your finances. But I’ve found that sometimes taking a break from a full-time job is easier than you might think, as is taking on a lower-paying but perhaps more satisfying role. Truly, we spend so much on things we don’t need.

So enjoy vacation, just do a gut-check and make sure your vacation is about your vacation and not about getting away from the office. And do everything you are supposed to do on vacation. Try new things. Eat new foods. Go to new places.

And dream new dreams.

Wollner is the founder, president and CEO of Balancing Life’s Issues, whose 1,800 trainers provide work/balance programs to major corporations, nonprofits and other organizations.