Most of us took some time off during the past couple of weeks. With today being the first day back to work (for many), your inbox might not be as full as other times of the year after some time off. Wouldn’t it be nice if this was always the case after a vacation?

As a small business owner, I can’t expect to completely disconnect when I go on vacation. But I can take some steps that will help minimize work distractions while I’m “relaxing.” Just because you state in your “Out of Office” message that you won’t be checking or responding to email doesn’t mean that people won’t email you while you are out. First of all, you need to make sure that you aren’t going to respond to any of those emails that you receive during vacation. If you can stick to that rule, make sure you ask everyone on your team to not send or CC you on any emails over the course of vacation. This request should include the person or people who are covering for you. In addition, ask that person covering to take you off any email threads started by clients/partners/others that were directed to you. Instead of having to comb through dozens to hundreds of emails when you return, have the person covering provide you with a summary of what went down while you were away on the day you return. This could be communicated in a document, one long email, or discussion.

If you need to be aware of how things are going at the office while you are on vacation, you should funnel all communication through one person. Luckily for me, it’s my business partner, Graham. We spoke a few times over the phone while I was away. Typically these phone calls occurred while I was walking my dog, which was great because it was on my schedule and did not interrupt quality time with my kids or wife. Graham kept me up-to-date and focused on the high priority items that needed some feedback now rather than later. This saved me valuable time away from the computer during and after vacation. In addition, I was able to get a true sense and understanding of how things were going because I spoke with Graham instead of reading and interpreting email (potentially the wrong way).

While these ideas might not seem ground-breaking, they can be easily looked over. All it takes is a few minutes to ask your team and person covering for you to do these things for you while you are out. It’s not a lot to ask and you should always return the favor when it’s their turn to go on vacation. Don’t just rely on the “Out of Office” message otherwise you will never truly get out of the office.

Posted by Todd Wickersty, founder of Business Bullpen. You can follow Todd on Tumblr and Twitter.