THERE are few better feelings I’ve come to find, than preparing an out of office reply on your work email after a lengthy stint free from holidays.

As you hit the confirm button on your carefully drafted automatic reply that will in mere moments come into effect, it’s as if a switch has been flipped in more ways than one. Almost instantly you envisage kicking back with your drink of choice in hand, slipping into flip flops and relaxing into Hawaiian print shirts: holiday mode has begun.

But whilst preparing the email is one thing, sticking to it’s message and avoiding the desire to reply is another thing entirely.

As work responsibilities mount throughout your career, so too I’ve found does it become more problematic to fully enjoy that well-earned break. But rather like you would tell a close friend, or read in something found in the self-help section of a bookshop, switching off is something you owe yourself – ‘Cut yourself some slack', I imagine the book reading, 'we all deserve a break.’

Now that many of us can access work emails remotely, no matter whether you’re enjoying a staycation at home in West Dunbartonshire or sunning yourself in Majorca, the digital age means it’s that bit harder to step off the work grid.

Last week my time away involved seven days in the ever-so-exotic Island that is the Isle of Arran. Now please discard the sarcasm; with many a childhood summer spent in this spot on the west coast of Scotland, it has in fact become a favourite location.

Yet whilst the island is home to a number of picture perfect walks, waterfalls and wildlife, what is it still lacking in in many corners is a decent Wi-Fi signal.

In my younger years I would huff and haw at this almighty injustice, wondering just how I was supposed to go without a ‘hey, howz you?’ text to my friends. Today I see it for what it is: a blessing to be appreciated. A way to switch off from work life and relax.

It’s not just work that it’s beneficial to forget for a few days, however. I’ve found not being in the know with every news story that hits the front page, doesn't do me any harm. With conflicts, trauma and tragedies often feeling like daily headlines, I'd argue sometimes it's essential to switch off for a period and regroup.

Whilst the Sunday blues are particularly potent at present as sit here and type, I know my return to work will have benefitted tenfold from spending a week not giving it more than a few (quick) thoughts.

Even though I’ll shed a small holiday tear when the out of office gets turned off, very quickly normal life resumes. Only now I’ll be a little more revived, a little more tanned, and perhaps a little less stressed come the next deadline.

At least for a few months anyway, until the next holiday break beckons.