How to Hand Off Work Before Your Time Off
By the time you finally sink your feet into the sand, lace up your hiking boots, or simply switch off your morning alarm, the last thing you want to be thinking about is a work email. Yet for many professionals, the pre-holiday period can feel like an overwhelming sprint to the finish line, a time thief that robs the joy from your well-earned rest before it even begins.
Writing in Harvard Business Review, project manager Yasmina Khelifi, author of How To Become a Culturally-Aware Project Manager, recounts a time she found herself entangled in exactly that trap. A long-awaited vacation coincided with the most critical phase of a high-priority project. “In a panic,” she writes, “I quickly began to plan for backup,” launching into a frenzy of emails, attachments, and exhaustive explanations for a colleague stepping in during her absence. What resulted was a blur of over-communication that only heightened the stress for both parties involved [1].
The mistake, as Khelifi saw in herself and sees in so many others, is the attempt to create a carbon copy of yourself at work while you’re away. “That’s not how backup plans should work,” she says. The key isn’t cloning yourself. Rather, it’s crafting a system that enables clarity, simplicity and, most importantly, trust [2].
A Matter of Mindset
The modern workplace is riddled with contradictions. We glorify time off but penalise disconnection. We promote wellbeing but idolise availability. It’s no wonder that, according to Forbes, over 765 million vacation days went unused in the US in 2023 alone — and even among those who did take time off, over half admitted to working while away [3]. The US may be more holiday-shy than most of its counterparts, but this is far from an isolated problem. In Ireland, the UK, you name it, employees are finding time off to be almost as stressful as time on the clock.
This trend isn’t just unfortunate, it’s counterproductive. Breaks are meant to be restorative, yet are often laced with more stress than day-to-day office life. Forbes contributor Shani Harmon warns of “leisure time thieves”, by which she means those lingering obligations and mental loops that sneak their way into our downtime, such as bringing your work laptop on the trip or checking your emails while away [4].
This cultural reluctance to disconnect has bled into the planning process as well. We often treat time off like a rogue wave to brace for rather than an inevitable rhythm of working life to plan around. And that’s where the change must begin.
Four Weeks Out
The most successful handovers aren’t built overnight. Ideally, you should begin your preparation four to six weeks before you set your out-of-office message. This is the moment to get strategic. Block the dates in your calendar, confirm them with your manager, and notify key stakeholders. Khelifi even recommends adding upcoming time off to your email signature. Maximum visibility, she argues, can sometimes nudge project deadlines forward to before your departure, easing the load for your backup [5].
This is also the window to reflect. What’s on your plate? Which deliverables can realistically be wrapped up in advance? “Remember,” Khelifi cautions, “your backup also has their own work to take care of” [6]. The aim isn’t to offload everything, but to ensure that what you do pass on is essential, manageable and clearly defined.
It’s here, too, that you should choose your backup. That’s a decision not to be taken lightly or left too late. The person stepping in for you needs context, time, and agency to do the job well.
Two Weeks Out
With your stand-in secured, the next stage is to define the scope. Aim to close out or renegotiate deadlines for any tasks that fall during your break. Think of your backup not as your replacement but as your representative. They’re entrusted to keep momentum going, not to inherit your entire workload.
The most powerful tool at your disposal is the handover document. This shouldn’t be a digital dumping ground but a curated, living artefact. Khelifi recommends listing every project you’re involved in, their current status, key risks, and any deadlines that fall within your absence. “Even if you’re not assigning your backup those tasks,” she says, “it will help them to know the status of your projects, and it will also help you plan your own work over the next two weeks” [8].
It’s not just a way of providing information. It’s a signal of respect for your work, your colleague’s time, and the standards your team upholds. Remember to be polite in the message and make clear that you’ll be doing everything you can to ensure they’re not overloaded in your absence [7]. They’re doing you a favour after all, it’s not a good look to ask for too much.
One Week Out
A week before your departure, the pressure mounts. But that’s precisely why this stage matters most. Begin by updating your handover document. Projects evolve, tasks shift, and what seemed urgent two weeks ago may no longer be a priority. Cross out what’s no longer relevant, and annotate the rest with clear instructions, including where to find files, who to chase for updates, and how to respond to specific contingencies [9].
Then, turn your attention to embedding your backup into the workflow. Add them to calendar invites, CC them on key email threads, and set up a one-on-one meeting. Perhaps your backup has a scheduling conflict with a meeting they’ve been asked to run. “You may need to take a call to see whether that’s to be cancelled or rescheduled and alert the attendees, Khalifi notes” [10]. The goal is to catch hiccups before they snowball.
The meeting should end with a clear email summary and a planned catch-up on your first day back. As Harmon advises, a “While you were away” update can help you reorient faster so your re-entry is smooth, not chaotic [11].
The Day Before
Out-of-office messages are often an afterthought, hastily written as you dash for the door. But a well-crafted one can make or break your time off. Be direct and specific. Set expectations, share contacts, and define your boundaries.
Khelifi suggests something in the mould of: “I’ll be hiking in the mountains with no/low network connection so I will not be checking emails” [12]. Meanwhile, Harmon goes out of her way to make clear that she will not be checking her email while away but also clarifies that anyone should text her in the event of something truly urgent [13].
Above all, resist the urge to stay connected as a form of virtue-signalling. If you’re a leader, the message you send by logging on during vacation is louder than any Teams message. “It’s become a very unhealthy norm,” Harmon writes, “particularly for senior executives, to forfeit a portion of every vacation day. That defeats the whole purpose of vacation” [14].
Instead, let your preparation do the talking. A calm, competent handoff broadcasts professionalism, emotional intelligence, and trust in your colleagues.
Protecting Your Time
There’s another side to this conversation that’s rarely addressed: how to avoid becoming the person who inherits all the leftover work when someone else goes on holiday. “Finishing up a project often involves dumping it or part of it onto someone else’s work plate,” warns Avery Blank in Forbes [15]. Many times a junior employee or someone in a non-management position ends up overloaded.
Blank offers a parallel set of principles: plan ahead, share the load, and prioritise. If someone asks you to cover, ask early for details. Clarify what’s expected, and negotiate scope if necessary [16]. Leaders, she reminds us, don’t work harder, they just work smarter [17].
It’s advice that applies on both sides of the handover. Whether you’re the one going offline or the one stepping in, the principles remain: prepare thoughtfully, communicate clearly, and honour each other’s time.
How to Hand Off Work Before Your Time Off
The deeper truth behind all of this is that well-executed handovers are more than just a logistical chore. Done right, they are an act of cultural leadership. They signal that rest is not a weakness but a necessity. That preparation is not paranoia but professionalism. That you trust your team, and in doing so, empower them to step up in your absence.
The transition from work to rest should not feel like abandoning ship. It should feel like a baton pass in a well-practiced relay. If executed properly, everyone gets to keep moving forward.
So the next time you plan a break, remember that letting go is not a liability but a skill. One worth learning, one worth sharing, and one that might just make your next holiday feel like a real one.
Sources
[1] https://hbr.org/2024/11/a-guide-to-handing-off-work-before-a-vacation
[2] https://hbr.org/2024/11/a-guide-to-handing-off-work-before-a-vacation
[5] https://hbr.org/2024/11/a-guide-to-handing-off-work-before-a-vacation
[6] https://hbr.org/2024/11/a-guide-to-handing-off-work-before-a-vacation
[7] https://hbr.org/2024/11/a-guide-to-handing-off-work-before-a-vacation
[8] https://hbr.org/2024/11/a-guide-to-handing-off-work-before-a-vacation
[9] https://hbr.org/2024/11/a-guide-to-handing-off-work-before-a-vacation
[10] https://hbr.org/2024/11/a-guide-to-handing-off-work-before-a-vacation
[12] https://hbr.org/2024/11/a-guide-to-handing-off-work-before-a-vacation
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