It’s almost here—your holiday vacation time! Maybe you’re heating up the oven to bake cookies. Maybe you’re gearing up to enjoy some fresh powder. Maybe you’re queuing up A Christmas Story to watch with your children or grandchildren. Whatever your holiday activity of choice, this vacation time is important for you to stay healthy and refreshed! And to fully enjoy your time away, you need to truly step away from work! And that’s so hard to do in this age of remote access.

The truth is, most of us work at least a little during our vacations. (Between the laptop and the smartphone and a not-so-jolly backlog, it’s tempting!) But trust us—the office will function without you, especially during the quiet weeks surrounding Christmas. You can set yourself up for success by deploying your colleagues as your informed backup squad any time you take vacation. Here’s how:

• Create a backup plan. If you got run over by a reindeer, could your coworkers take care of your work until you got better? If not, set up a plan to cover your duties during personal emergencies or planned vacations. Educate your coworkers on your responsibilities and deadlines. A desk manual can help with this, which should include a full list of your responsibilities, both in categories (“Process purchase reqs,” “audit monthly procurement card statements”) and in recurring meetings and deadlines (“First Mondays, 10 a.m.: Advisory Committee Meeting,” “December 1: Provide next fiscal year budget projections”). Talk with your boss about who might be good to take on which of your duties.
• Cross-train. Once you and your boss delegate duties, meet with each member of your backup squad—these will be the elves to your Santa! Run them through exactly what they’ll be doing while you’re away. (Give them a prepared sheet of notes, so they can concentrate on watching you.) Put someone in charge of your email inbox, and share how to handle routine inquiries. Let them know what situations are emergencies.
• Designate one point of contact. No matter how well you prepare your squad to cover your desk, emergencies can happen. Designate a “head elf” as your point person, and tell that person how to reach you while you’re away. Then you’ll know whose calls to look for!
• Debrief when you return. Debriefing is extra important after that first vacation with your squad in place. What went well, what do they need more training to do, and what outright fell through the cracks? Build on the notes you created before you left, and modify your desk manual with anything you might have forgotten. You don’t want to have to place anyone on the naughty list!

You may not create peace on Earth during your holiday vacation, but with some planning and confidence, you can create peace of mind! So go out and bake those cookies, ski those slopes, and watch those movies, without worrying about work. After all, with hundreds of millions of presents to deliver, Santa is working enough for everyone this season.