Happiness Hacks: Taking your brain entirely out of work mode is way harder than it should be, but here's how you can do it.
America has a complicated relationship with vacations. Somewhere in the process of becoming a nation obsessed with the romanticized idea that anyone willing to put in the hard work can achieve whatever they want, we've built a work culture where long hours and around-the-clock availability feel like the norm.
Pew Research Center found that 46% of U.S. workers with paid time off take less than they're given. Among those who skip it, 43% say they'd feel bad about coworkers picking up their slack, and women are more likely than men to say so (48% vs. 39%). Sound familiar?
And when we do manage to force ourselves into some R&R, we still can't kick the work habit. In a July 2026 survey from Grow Therapy, 74% of workers checked work messages at least once during their last time off, and nearly half (48%) had canceled a vacation, cut one short, or both because of work in the past year. Gen Z had it worst: 58% of them had a trip derailed by work, compared with 34% of Gen X.
But here's the thing: Taking your brain out of work mode can feel like a luxury, yet it's also good for the bigger picture of your health and well-being. A 2025 review of 32 studies published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that vacations boost well-being more than researchers used to think, and the lift can last for weeks after you're back. The biggest gains went to people who mentally detached from work. As lead researcher Ryan Grant put it, if you're thinking about work while on vacation, you might as well be at the office.
So whether you're heading out on a late-summer escape or counting down to the holiday break, keep the following in mind to soak up the maximum benefits of chilling the eff out.
Be Straight-Up With Your Bosses and Coworkers
Communication is key to keeping yourself from worrying about how your colleagues will fare without you and what will or won't get done. In the week or two before you leave, sit down with your manager and go over everything that needs to get knocked out before you become unavailable. Then write a short handoff doc: what's in progress, who owns what while you're gone, and where the files live.
If the situation is still looking hairy a few days beforehand, say so, and let your colleagues know where you're at so you can come up with real solutions together. Letting unfinished tasks creep up on your coworkers while you're away isn't cool, and the more upfront you are about it, the more peace of mind you'll have once you're gone.
This prep also takes care of the guilt. That "I'm leaving everyone in the lurch" feeling is a big reason people skip time off in the first place, and a clear plan is the most practical answer to it. If the pre-trip scramble is already hijacking your momentum, start the handoff earlier next time.
Stand by That OOO Auto-Reply
Even if you're not planning on responding to work emails while you're away, the mere act of checking them can pull you back into work brain in an instant. Especially if you're the type for whom a red notification badge is the digital equivalent of letting your dog's poop sit indefinitely on your rug.
Set your out-of-office message, then make the rest of your work apps disappear too. Email is only half the problem now that Slack and Teams live on your phone. A few easy moves:
- Sign out of work accounts on your phone, or remove them temporarily, so those unreads can pile up out of sight.
- Pause chat notifications. Slack lets you pause notifications for a custom stretch of time, and it shows a little snooze icon next to your name so people know you're off.
- Set up a vacation Focus. On iPhone, a Focus can silence every work app while still letting your travel buddies and the airline through. Android has similar modes.
If you absolutely must check once or twice to make sure nothing's on fire, pick one set time, log in manually on a browser, and log right back out. Making it a little annoying will hopefully quell that itch.
If you're planning to stay completely offline, it's a nice courtesy to tell your team ahead of time. It shouldn't have to be this way, sure, but because we've created a culture in which we're reachable even when we're supposedly not, setting firm expectations is one of the best ways to keep work brain from creeping in.
Remember Who the Vacation Is For
You, of course! But stacked on top of our reluctance to really leave our desks behind is the pressure to show the world that you're having the most #blessed vacation ever, and that you're so #grateful for the sun, the sand, and how cute you look in the fifth attempt at the perfect Instagram story of you sipping an umbrella drink.
Shifting your priorities from the experience itself to how the world will perceive your experience pulls you away from the time you worked so hard to earn. Which isn't very logical. But it is easier said than done.
Before you leave, take some time to think about what you're hoping to get out of your vacation and what you'll need to make it happen. While you're still in work mode, make yourself a list. You don't need to hold yourself super accountable; this is not work. I repeat, this is not work.
One thing worth adding to that list: Get moving. The same research found that physical activity on vacation gave people the biggest well-being boost of anything they did, while purely passive rest didn't move the needle much. That doesn't mean a boot-camp itinerary. A hike, a swim, a long walk through a new city all count.
That said, the mere act of naming what you want from your trip (which can absolutely be "read three novels and nap") puts you in the right mindset as you decide what you want your days to look like.
Give Yourself a Landing Day
The post-vacation crash is real. Researchers found well-being dips once people go back to work, and the Grow Therapy survey found 47% of workers came back just as stressed as before, or more so.
If you can swing it, build in a buffer day at home between the trip and your first day back. Unpack, do laundry, grocery shop, and maybe skim your inbox for 30 minutes so Monday doesn't ambush you. Keep your OOO on through that day so nobody expects instant replies.
And if you come home and realize even a week away barely touched your exhaustion, pay attention to that. It can be one of the signs it's time for a longer break, or for a role that comes with more balance built in.
Taking real time off is part of doing ambitious work on your terms. Sign up for Girlboss Daily for practical advice on protecting your energy and your career momentum, delivered every weekday. Enjoy the trip!
