28-year-old social media manager in Norway is required to take 3 weeks of vacation in summer: ‘Work is not everything’

The summer travel season is in full swing, and you might be planning to set up your own “out of office” message soon.

But in the U.S., which has a culture of overworking and zero national laws that guarantee paid vacation time, people have a hard time taking the days off they’re given. The average American leaves 9½ vacation days on the table each year, and when they do take time off, a majority say they’re unable to stop working.

The temptation to check work messages on vacation is even difficult for Lene Vindenes, 28, who lives in Oslo, Norway, and works as a social media manager. Like many European workers, she’s entitled to a generous amount of paid leave by law.

Her company guarantees 25 paid vacation days per year, and she’s required to take three weeks of vacation during the summer between June and August. She once took off for four weeks to travel around Europe.

She admits it’s “really hard” to not check email when she’s off the clock, and coming back from weeks away is “always overwhelming.”

Here are her four top tips for how she prepares to be OOO.

Just as you’d let your boss and team know when you’re going to be away, Vindenes says it’s customary for her to send an email to people she works closely with about her vacation plans. She starts this process a month ahead of her scheduled time off.

“I usually start with informing my clients that I will take time off, and ask them if they have any upcoming projects I need to be aware of,” she says.

It’s helpful for her to know what her clients’ priorities are, and then figure out what she can complete before she’s out, what other colleagues can do while she’s away, and what can wait until she’s back.

Vindenes says the thing that puts her most at ease before vacation is knowing “both the company and my colleagues have my back.”

She and her team have “very clear routines” to keep everything running smoothly while anyone is away and with the…