What happened after writing a recent Product Management IRL article? These insights are for premium subscribers to Product Management IRL.
This week’s backstory is about disconnecting from product work while on vacation:
What Prompted this Article?
A coworker took a week of vacation and simply disappeared for a week. He left meetings on the calendar and didn’t let anyone know about his work in progress before leaving.
I had to cover for him with no background and no idea where to find his work.
After handling these irritations, I decided to take a different approach to my vacation.
In the past, I would check email and respond to IMs during vacation. This was a defense to prevent issues when I returned.
I wanted a worry-free vacation like my co-worker!
I made a plan to hand off everything and pick back up when I returned. No emails, no IMs, and no phone calls for the whole vacation. Below is a summary of the plan.