Coming back after a long vacation can be daunting. Not because of the work but the anticipation of looking at your email inbox total.

Do not attempt to deal with email on a vacation. Leaving email out of your vacation plans is the best thing. Surprisingly, even with the threat of a few hundred email when you get back, taking a break from email will do wonders.

In order to ensure a good vacation break:

- make sure your out-of-office assistant clearly states you are away and when you are returning.
- make sure people are aware that you are not answering emails while away.
- place a second-in-command in charge, and refer to this in your out-of-office assistant message.

On my return, I find the best way to deal with the number of emails is to sort my inbox by “subject”. That way the most recent email by conversation is on the top and I do not have to read through the train of emails. The most recent email is at the top of the list. Doing it this way will eliminate a lot of the emails in your inbox.

Provided that you properly indicate who to direct your important emails to while you are away, the majority of the emails will be for your information only.

Tomorrow’s post: If you come with a problem, bring a solution