We didn’t take many vacations as a family when I was younger.
Outside of the trip out West to see grandparents in San Diego, California and the occasional trip to visit family in Villa Park, Illinois (West Chicago), we rarely traveled outside of Michigan.
However, when we did travel, I remember seeing both of my parents feverishly cleaning the house before our departure time.
“We’re leaving. Why are you cleaning?” I’d often ask my parents.
“So we don’t have to clean when we come back home,” they would often reply.
I didn’t get it back then.
But I totally get it now.
When we go on a vacation (or maybe just an extended weekend to get away from the work week and the grind of the day-to-day), we’re looking to calm our minds, reset, and try to get back into a state of homeostasis. Taking a trip, no matter how short, is a privilege and an opportunity to invest back into yourself, explore new areas, reconnect with old friends, meet new friends, and maybe — just maybe — help you change the way you look at the world around you.
Taking a vacation is also a great reminder of why we invest so much into our career and day-to-day (studies actually show taking time away increases productivity before and after the trip.)
People who took fewer than 10 of their vacation days per year had a 34.6% likelihood of receiving a raise or bonus in a three-year period of time. People who took more than 10 of their vacation days had a 65.4% chance of receiving a raise or bonus. (Harvard Business Review, 2016)
When you come back to a home in disarray after that trip, you lose all the good momentum, clear mindedness, and self-investment that the vacation and time away from emails, pings, business reviews, and presentation decks gave you. The last thing you want to do when you come back home from a solid break from work is doing the dishes, right?
I take cleaning the house seriously before a trip because I want to maximize the return on my vacation investment.
Now, let’s be real — a deep clean before every single trip is unrealistic, but if you’re looking for a solid checklist to build the habit, here are my recommendations:
- Clean the bed sheets: OMG, smelling the fabric softener from freshly clean sheets when you hit the bed — your bed — for the first time in many moons is a great feeling.
- Just do the dishes: empty the sink and the dishwasher. Clean slate.
- Take the trash out: I learned this the hard way. No one wants to come home to a funky smell.
- Clean the shower & toilet: these items will be in a static state for a while. Do you want it looking/smelling like that when you get back?
- Empty the laundry hamper: why do more laundry than you have to when you get back from your trip?
Begin your vacation or weekend getaway with the end in mind.
KL
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