Vacations provide time to recharge; however, some of us continue to take work calls, respond to emails, and attend video meetings even while out of the office. Here are a few simple tasks you can do ahead of vacations to give you peace of mind and help you to return refreshed.

“Taking vacations—as in, completely disconnecting from work—is critical to lowering burnout, increasing energy and engagement, and improving overall health and well-being,” writes career coach and author Marlo Lyons in a recent Harvard Business Review article, “which in turn will lead to more consistent productivity.”

She outlines five key preparatory steps to take to leave your workload covered:

• Make a plan. First and foremost, make a well-detailed and documented coverage plan for your absence. Work with colleagues to assign points of contact to ensure that deliverables will be met and lines of communication remain open for customers, vendors, or other relevant parties.
• Update your calendar—well in advance. Take advantage of shared calendars or other similar portals and mark your out-of-office dates well in advance. Yes, it’s a simple thing to do, and in our busy and fast-paced workplace, it’s especially essential to flag these critical notices.
• Provide updates for standing meetings. In addition to declining your attendance at meetings for the time when you’ll be away, offer to provide key updates or other pertinent information to the meeting organizer in advance. Doing so will help ensure that your key information continues to be shared or communicated.
• Be clear with your out-of-office message. Given that so many workers remain connected while on vacation, there is an informal assumption that you might be contacted even while off. To counter this, be specific in your out-of-office message and state that you will not have access to your email or work phone.
• Remind, remind, remind. As a professional courtesy to colleagues, it’s a good idea to send quick reminders of your pending time off, especially in the week leading up to your absence. Further, offering to schedule a hand-off meeting or making yourself available for last-minute questions before signing off will help to ensure a smoother and more relaxed vacation.

For more advice, read “Set These 5 Boundaries Before You Go on Vacation."