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True vacations, while much-needed, are often left off the busy person’s list of achievements.

We fast-paced, multi-tasking, busy professionals tend to have trouble relaxing.  When we are accustomed to squeezing what feels like 30 waking hours out of a 24-hour-day, it can be hard to slow down.  Really hard. 

While I have generally been a C student in this arena most of my life -— first gear is not a comfort zone for me – this summer I’ve learned a few secrets about downshifting that will guide me in the future. 

As the summer months wane, and the academic year gets set on cruise control, this is the time to re-connect to that relaxed, easy-going beach bum who was wiggling toes in the sand not so many weeks ago.

Perhaps this will motivate you to schedule your next, well-deserved vacation. Or maybe it will give you some ideas about how to invite ‘mini-vacations’ into your daily life.

Mini-vacations come in snippets, in moments seized and released. They happen when you re-acquaint yourself with spontaneity.

To achieve true vacation status – whether on holiday or on a daily basis -- there are two aspects of our typical lives that need to be managed differently (or not managed, as the case may be): timing and planning.

Good timing is a critical element to a happy vacation. But make no mistake: arriving just in advance of a large group, or getting the last two seats due to a cancellation, is often a matter of luck, not skill. 

The trick to good timing is actually to avoid trying to control time.  Recognize and appreciate the parts of life that are out of your control.  Get out of the ‘rush’ and relax. For some of us, it may feel like surrender. But there is a power in the release, like a deep sigh.

Remember, this is about slowing down, not being first to the finish line.

To start, Practice taking your time.  Let someone who is anxious get in line in front of you.  Smile at antsy folks who are poised like racehorses waiting for the gun to sound. Exchange knowing glances with clerks who are trying to be patient amidst teeming hordes of people in a hurry. Get so absorbed in a really good book that you could actually use a few extra minutes to finish a chapter.

“Karma” is a factor at play here: there is no extra credit for being first.

Right now, I am in the middle of a long trip home after an extended family trip. I have a good book and my computer.  I’m in no rush.  I will get home when I get home.  For this rare moment in life, I feel at peace with time. And that is the clear sensation of vacation.

The other key element to a good vacation may seem counter-intuitive, but go with me here:  avoid planning.  Not completely, of course.  If you are “going on a vacation,” knowing where you are going to sleep, and how you are going to get around are clearly major stress-relievers.  And they can be planned in advance.

But it’s not necessary to plan every moment of your life, at home or on the road. Allow yourself to be present in the moment: relax, release and enjoy.  Without major time crunches, you can follow the rhythms of your body. When time is unstructured, you can take advantage of what arises.

Yes, you might miss out on a few things that you hoped to catch, but you will more thank likely make up for that with experiences you never would have imagined.  And these are often the moments we remember most.

Perhaps you’ll linger over a stunning sunset.  Or choose to have ice cream before supper on a promenade – or ice cream FOR supper. You might catch up on your sleep, or get out of bed to watch a sunrise.  It’s not important what you do, it’s that you allow for possibility.

My husband left a few days early for an out-of-town conference -- he needed to decompress after our family’s exhaustive summer trip. On a whim, he pulled off the highway when he saw the sign for a familiar state park.  He took some time to put his feet in the lake and enjoy a little nature. 

Vacation achieved, squeezed into the moments between the plans.

So the bottom line here is to learn to listen to what you want in the moment, and allow enough flexibility in your life to follow that -- sometimes.  You don’t have to rely on a week at Atlantis to add “chill-time” to your life.  You can do it by embracing spontaneity, loosening the reigns on time, and being open to possibility.  

We busy people know that we need to slow down, that the body needs rest.  So maybe it will help to look at it this way – vacation is a dirty job, but someone has to do it!

Elaine Taylor-Klaus is a Life, Leadership and Executive Coach and the founder of Touchstone Coaching.  She is a regular ShareWIK.com columnist.

Read more articles by Elaine Taylor-Klaus here.

©ShareWIK Media Group, LLC 2010