🕶 5 Ways to Mentally Clock Out Before Summer PTO

Hi, it’s me. Rigatoni.
Golden retriever. Full-time napper. Part-time productivity coach.
And if you’re reading this, I’m guessing you’re emotionally out of office but still legally required to respond to Slack. Let’s fix that.

Here are 5 ways to mentally clock out before Memorial Day Weekend and the start of your summer PTO (without getting written up).

1. Schedule “Focus Time” That’s Actually “Iced Coffee & Silence Time”

aka: You deserve a treat.
Block your calendar. Name it something vague like “Cross-Functional Synergy Planning.”
Now go outside. Grab an iced coffee the size of your burnout. Sip in peace. Tell no one.

2. Create a Vision Board—But Only of Vacation Memes

Print out beach stock photos, dogs in sunglasses, and inspirational quotes like “Out of Office is a mindset.” Hang it up. Stare at it between Zoom calls like you're manifesting your exit strategy.

3. Reply to Emails With Increasingly Cryptic Messages

• Week 1: “Let’s circle back after next week’s sync.”
• Week 2: “Following up once more before Q2 heat kicks in!”
• Week 3: “As the sun sets on the fiscal half…”
• Week 4: 🐾 sent from iPhone

4. Start Using Your PTO in Microdoses

Take 1 hour off every Friday and call it “mental inventory reconciliation.”
No one will question it. Mostly because no one understands what it means.

5. Let Your Dog Join Your Meetings

I’ll say it: morale goes up 72% when I’m on screen.
Put me in a tie. Give me a headset. I’m your new Manager of Emotional Support Services.

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