Let’s set the scene: Your supervisor asks when you’re next planning to take a vacation. Maybe they’re even encouraging you to do so. Your (at least internal) response: “Yeah, sure, in the summer.” If you’re like me, that may come from the stress of planning leave at any. other. time. There’s always something – a meeting, a deadline, a signature event that you really want to see in action. Or maybe having nothing makes it more stressful to be gone, because no events or deadlines means you may finally reach the mythical “Inbox 0” you’ve been chasing for a decade (guilty here too).
If this is resonating with you, I’m here to challenge you to accept two facts:
- There will never be a perfect time to take annual leave.
- Everything will be okay, and possibly better, if you do take annual leave.
Please, go repeat those a few times in the mirror, and then come back, because I think it’s arguably more important that we discuss how to take leave in Residence Life rather than when. Below are five key points to help us through the “how?” And for all the supervisors out there, I pair each with how we can empower those points, as our work structures and expectations (or lack thereof) can make these harder to follow.
Key Point 1: Know What You’re Eligible For
This may seem obvious, but if you have not looked at your institution’s leave policies, your accrual rates, the types of leave you’re eligible for and how and when to use each, please set aside some time to do so or set up an appointment with a colleague in Human Resources to learn more. Given the cadence and generalist nature of our work, it’s not uncommon for those of us in Residence Life to miss key HR trainings and/or retain duty protocols over those benefits. Then, between starting as new professionals who have potentially never accrued leave before, experiencing months of training to start those jobs, being on-call, and living where we work, we can get into a rhythm and forget that leave exists. Even if you don’t plan to take leave in the next month or so, if you are not sure (1) how to initiate that request, (2) how much you can request, or (3) what the process or expectations are around taking leave, please go learn those aspects now. I think you’ll be glad to have that knowledge before you need the knowledge.
For supervisors: I recommend making processes and expectations around all types of leave an essential part of annual training and personnel manuals, both in partnership with HR. Because we try to pack so much into training periods and new professionals have often not accrued any leave yet, we push this to the side. And if you have rules or dates when leave requests will be more strictly scrutinized, write them down and make them accessible – we tend to keep unwritten rules when it comes to leave (e.g., you don’t need to request a few hours if you have an evening event, 50% of staff need to be working at a time, your out of office message needs to look like this), which creates uncertainty and thus barriers to actually taking it.
Key Point 2: Have a Coverage Plan
Residential communities are ecosystems that keep moving along while you’re away, so you should know who’s covering the essential parts of your role. If you don’t know what’s essential, ask your supervisor. Again, I don’t recommend waiting until you’re planning leave, because we are all allowed to get sick, and it is helpful to know what’s essential when that happens too. Build a shared understanding of which meetings can be cancelled and which need to be rescheduled; similarly, know what you will need to take care of when you return versus what will be taken care of for you. Will you need to reschedule 1:1 meetings with supervisees, but someone will read and process incident reports? Do you need to have all program supplies purchased, or can someone cover that for you? Who does your team report to while you’re out? Do you have an “exit buddy” – a peer who will cover for you and you in turn for them? Having these and other items planned out, while seemingly daunting, will make the leaving part easier.
For supervisors: Maybe it’s because I’m the product of high school educators, but I love having a coverage plan ready to go. Even if it’s a simple one, having a plan means that when you or your supervisees wake up with a cold, they don’t need to work for two hours just to make sure everyone knows who’s doing what while they are sick. But more to the point, it also reduces a barrier to even thinking about leave. I’ll also encourage us to think critically about what can be fully covered by you or peers while someone is away. The less that is waiting for someone’s return, the more likely they will feel comfortable taking leave again; nothing stifles taking a week off like the feeling you’ll have two weeks on your return. Finally, proactively work this early and regularly into your supervision partnerships, emphasizing why it matters, and helping supervisees understand the potential roles for you and their peers while they are away – in addition to your own coverage plans for when you take leave.
Key Point 3: Actually Be Gone
This may be the most difficult, but I’ll argue it’s the most important – when the out of office message, voicemail, Teams status, door sign, and sunglasses are all set, don’t look back until your scheduled return. I’ll argue it makes things more confusing for everyone if and when you respond to messages or act within your position while you are out of office. Trust your coverage plan, and if you cannot, that is an important conversation to have with a colleague or supervisor. On a related note, because you are covered, enjoy your time away and turn off the notifications – or if you know you will check, delete the apps altogether for your leave. If you live on campus and have the means, I’d suggest leaving campus; whether that’s for a weeklong trip or just to a coffee shop for the day, leaving the environment that gives you cues to work will better allow your brain to disconnect from the work. Finally, please do not take leave during an on-call shift if you can avoid that – you won’t achieve the same psychological rest and detachment that gives annual leave the restorative power it’s supposed to have.
For supervisors: Please support this! Our boundaries can be rough and porous in Residence Life, to say the least, so we often minimize life interruptions as “part of the job.” But it does matter, and the interruptions accumulate over time. If you come across a task or decision point that needs the input of someone who is on leave, consult with whomever is covering for them or let it wait until their return. We tend to fall into the trap of thinking of people and not positions in our field, so coverage plans (and a team that trusts each other) should cover you in these moments and allow you to avoid that “can I give you a quick call” that disempowers supervisees to truly disconnect. Finally, role-modelling is key here – when you take leave, be away too and don’t respond; otherwise you may undercut any encouragement you give for supervisees to truly be away.
Key Point 4: Prepare for Your Departure and Your Return
Okay, if you’re following all the above, you should have a plan and be ready to stick to it. But then you need to implement it, so assign yourself that task! On my end, I try to set aside time in meetings leading up to leave and more time the day before I leave to update supervisees and campus partners of my coverage plan, set my away messages, wrap-up or delegate tasks, and – if it’s a week or more – tidy up my office and take out the trash and recycling so that I am coming back to a clean space. And that’s all just part of planning for my return. Since my away messages inevitably say “I will return messages on….,” I try to set myself up to keep that promise. This means setting aside time to catch-up, setting a time to connect with my supervisor on what came up while I was away, and ensuring I’m not scheduling meetings on my return date for which I am not prepared, because that preparation will then need to happen during my leave. Make future you a #1 fan of present you, and give yourself the soft landing you deserve after an even more deserved vacation.
For supervisors: One way to empower this is to check-in on supervisees who are preparing to take leave, especially if it is longer. Depending on your culture or expectations around meetings, this could look like a 15-minute check in during the 1:1 meeting prior or the day before to see how they are preparing to be away and if there is anything they need support wrapping up before their departure. I have used this time to extend deadlines, learn items they are worried about being away from, and dissuade work while on leave. On a similar but different note, I recommend setting up a quick debrief check-in on supervisees’ returns; this both takes a potential item off their plate if they needed to schedule this anyway, and if there’s nothing to talk about, they get back the time for returning messages.
Key Point 5: Don’t Wait Until You’re Burnt Out
This point brings us back to the top. One reason we tend to “count down the days until break” is that we are running on empty until we feel we can restore our tanks. Then we take the time away, and it takes us longer than ideal to restore than if we had taken an earlier break. Many colleagues have recommended scheduling sporadic and random times away throughout a term, and I think they are on to something. Depending on your life circumstances and leave policies, you may not need to save leave for something; for example, my institution allows using sick leave for childcare, which means I do not need to save annual leave for when daycare is closed for my kiddo. So, if you can, pre-request some leave for when you think it may just be nice to recharge a little rather than saving it for when you “need” it. On a similar note, I don’t recommend only taking leave immediately after big events or project deadlines, as you may have a to-do list build-up of lower priority items during that time. You know you and your own workstyle best, so just be true to yourself.
For supervisors: This is where knowing the team you supervise and building rapport helps. If you notice someone could use some time away, find a way to approach that conversation that honors the work they’re doing while reflecting back what you are noticing in them. I will occasionally look at calendars with the professionals I supervise to intentionally find time that they are comfortable taking leave, especially when they may be more resistant to being away. I’ll also give what may seem contradictory advice: share why you take your own leave as comfortable, but outside of your institution’s leave expectations, don’t ask what someone is doing with their time away or why they are taking it. Sharing your own leave plans can be a great form of role-modelling and reminder that we all earn and can take vacation for any reason, but asking about it can build an unintentional culture where you “need a reason to take leave” that you have earned. And if you’re not in a place in your career when you take leave often, consider taking some of these tips into consideration and doing so; again, role-modelling is powerful in our supervisory partnerships!
Some or all of these points may not be possible depending on your institutional context. We make taking leave difficult in Residence Life between on-call or incident response protocols, time expectations or restrictions, and the never-ceasing task lists inherent to education and helping professions. We try to correct this with “comp” or “flex” time, which I believe actually muddies the waters of using the leave that staff “officially” accrue.
And beyond all this, the work-life blend of live-on positions and graduate school norms builds-up to poor modelling from those of us in mid- and senior-level positions. But that’s what makes it all the more important for those of us with influence over policy and expectations in our home departments to interrupt the cycle and push forward changes that counter our field’s culture. Let’s create sustainable work environments in which the rising generation of Residence Life professionals won’t say they are overworked and can never be away from that work.
And no matter your level, I believe you can and should take leave as a Residence Life professional and you can influence some change, both in your institution and in our field, through acting on the points above. Now go do it, and be you!
