Appreciating your time off after take-off: How to unwind during your summer holidays

​As we are now confidently in the summer season, we are either thinking about holidays, booking holidays or are on holiday enjoying a nice cold beverage on the beach.

With this in mind, we wanted to learn more about how property professionals spread their annual leave throughout the year. We asked in a poll to 600 property personnel, ‘What percentage of your annual leave is taken in summer?

The results show that just under half of the workforce take a two-week vacation across two months of the year. That’s a substantial amount of people taking holidays around the summertime.

Considering the large number of property personnel taking their holidays in the summer, we wanted to put together some useful ideas you can utilise to unwind, slow down and switch off during the hotter months.

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Say goodbye to emails, hello to me time…

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With nearly every part of our lives now involving technology, it’s hard to disconnect and truly ‘switch off’. We have seen hyper-connectivity impact the real estate industry, with technologies like real estate apps and virtual tours becoming more prevalent, homebuyers and renters are increasingly using automated platforms. (source;https://www.businessleader.co.uk/how-is-real-estate-technology-affecting-the-property-sector/)

This is not however, a negative. Technology also brings with it an abundance of benefits to the industry, such as PropTech reducing paperwork and making transactions more efficient. This just shows just how prevalent technology is in the industry, and how important it can be to turn it off, especially when trying to take a break from work. It is always important to have that work/life balance.

A simple way of switching off is making sure that your email notifications are turned off, and your out of office is turned on. This will help you keep your mind in holiday mode, and ensure you are not thinking about work priorities.

It can be important for your physical and mental well-being to take a break without the distraction of work-related emails.

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Prioritise people

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It’s easy to lose touch with your friends and family when you are wrapped up in your busy work schedule. It’s even harder when your friends and family have equally busy work schedules and finding a day that you are all available seems almost impossible.

I can’t be the only one that has tried to organise multiple coffees and dinners with my mum, and she manages to schedule you in 4 weeks down the line.

Take this time off in the summer to see your loved ones for some quality time in the sun. It’s the perfect excuse to get outside, light up the BBQ or head to the beach, whilst catching up on lost time.

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Vitamin D-stress

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Taking your annual leave in the summer is the perfect time of year to enjoy some time outside, topping up on some vitamin D. Even more so if you work in a position that requires you to be sat at a desk most of the time, it can be beneficial to utilise your time off to spend it outside amongst nature.

Being around nature can involve anything from gardening, spending time with your pets or taking a summer evening walk. Whatever it is that you enjoy doing most, spending time nearer nature can improve your mood, reduce feelings of stress, and help you take time out to feel more relaxed.https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/nature-and-mental-health/how-nature-benefits-mental-health/

The perfect thing to help you unwind this summer holiday.

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Trust your colleagues

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Have confidence that your colleagues have you covered whilst you are away. There is no need to worry about tasks that you can’t complete whilst you are not there, everything can be completed when you get back. An efficient handover will put you at ease and ensure that your colleagues can support with any tasks that crop up whilst you are not there.