Chances are, if you began your career working remotely, or spent the last two years working from home, you don’t feel the need to take a lengthy leave and give yourself a proper break. After all, you just need to switch from your work computer screen to Netflix whenever you’re tired of work. Sure, you could travel overseas since the borders are opening up with the Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL), but taking all the required screen tests are troublesome, and let’s not mention the crowds on cruises. It’s easier to fall into the misconception that there’s no reason to take a long break, but the truth is, you do need to take that break.

For instance, you may need the time to just focus on your social life (no (wo)man is an island, so please keep in touch with your friends) and take care of yourself. That means taking a break, working on the fatigue you’ve accumulated over the time you spent working non-stop, and, of course, you still have to clear your leave. Worse, you likely have to do so in a long stretch so that you can meet the end of the year deadline.

So, what are you going to do over your long break? How can you maximise your leave when there’s no travelling or sightseeing to divert your mind? How can you completely let go of everything, disconnect and recharge when your work laptop is just sitting there (and probably – improbably – waving at you)?

We don’t have all the answers, but we have suggestions!

Create a leave itinerary

Just because stringent safe distancing measures are still in place doesn’t mean that you can’t pack your days with catch-ups (both physical and virtual) with friends, as well as fun and relaxing activities, such as a day at the beach or bungee jumping in Sentosa. While this is a good use of your leave time-wise, take note to ensure you don’t start treating it like a back-to-back work schedule.

In other words, in between activities and meet-ups, be sure to give yourself blocks of time where you can relax or allow overruns. After all, just because you’ve planned your day doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy yourself!

Do nothing

Working from home seems to have opened the floodgates to working 24/7. Bored over the weekend? Work. Colleague sends a message on Saturday? Work. Just too many things to do and not enough days in a week? Work, work, work. There seems to be a tendency to throw work-life balance out the window once you realise that your home is your office.

So, instead of maximising your days for work, maximise your days for rest. Although your mind may protest doing absolutely nothing (especially after getting into the habit of maximising your days for work), there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a slob in the comfort of your own home, so long as you feel recharged at the end of it!

Turn everything off and disconnect

And by everything, we mean everything. Your laptop, phone, tablet and TV. And leave them where you can’t access them easily. This might seem impossible – we’re all wired to check social media and group chats updates regularly – if there are no distractions around. And by distractions, we mean work.

Most of the time, connectivity is very good for your work and personal life. But when you’re trying to make the most of your leave, it really isn’t. So make an effort to remind yourself that you’re on break every time your mind drifts to your phone, and throw yourself into what’s going on around you in the present. It can be just listening to music for hours at a time, or trying to clean up after three pets. Whatever it is, you deserve to unplug from the world for some time (you’re on leave, you can) and spend time with yourself to rest.

Set boundaries

When you start your long break, set boundaries between what’s work-related and what’s not. This might be hard – considering that you may have gotten into the habit of viewing your home, or even your bedroom, as your office – but it’s entirely possible.

While you can’t move to another room for the duration of your leave, what you can do is squirrel your work laptop away and make it a point to not use it for leisure purposes. Better still, you can make a trip to the office and leave it there for the length of your leave.

Learn something unrelated to work

And by “learning something”, we don’t mean the certifications sort of something. We’re talking museums (Changi Chapel and Museum), heritage walks (walking tours in Little India) and even learning how to kayak (if that floats your boat, pun intended). On top of distracting yourself from work-related thoughts, the physical movement and sense of accomplishment in learning something new will leave you feeling enjoyably accomplished at the end of the day!

Putting in the effort to not think about work when on leave is worth it when you think about the consequences of not doing so: burnout and higher stress levels are just two common ones. Although there’s no one way to enjoy your leave – everyone has different ways of recharging – just try your best to disengage. You do you!