The call annoyed me as a kid on vacation.

About midway through the week, after we’d woken up and had breakfast, my dad had to dial a number on the hotel phone before we’d set out on that day’s adventure.

“How are things going at the shop?” he’d ask his business manager, or editor, or circulation director.

It was mostly over quick — turns out the key to successful leadership is having good people around you. Maybe the quick, occasional problem to solve extended my dad’s conversation, but it typically lasted no more than 15 minutes — maybe once, maybe twice on our week away.

And then it was no more phones, no more worries, as we caravanned somewhere new.

In many ways of late, I contemplate the juxtaposition of my childhood and adulthood. The differences seem stark for someone who still vividly remembers the days before mobile phones and the more carefree existence that provided. I am a child who saw the great technological revolution from the ground up.

Vacations might be the most underrated example of how the world has changed.

From the moment I entered the workforce, I felt a sense of responsibility. As a sports editor who just turned 22, I remember not really talking to anyone in my office for my first couple of weeks, as I wanted to devote all of my energy to making sure the sports pages got out in a timely and quality fashion. Once I proved I wouldn’t let myself down, I returned to my outgoing nature.

When my youngest daughter was born, I came back to work after 24 hours because I just couldn’t fathom not getting the result of that small-school baseball game in the paper. It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life.

For years, as sports editor and editor, I clutched my phone during vacations, nervously scrolling through email an average of once an hour, afraid I’d missed something or dropped the ball somewhere.

As someone who enjoys the outdoors, such as time on a remote golf course or hiking trail in the woods, I was sometimes interrupted by worry as the coverage on my phone waned.

Strangely, that worry centered around work, not other parts of my life.

Now, as publisher, I sleep with my phone’s ringer on six nights a week, just in case something happens with our nighttime production facility. Thank goodness we have a team of professionals who get done what needs done every night and solve problems before they get to me.

Of late, I’ve tried to be very conscious about minimizing my anxiety about work, about being better balanced.

Most nights, I don’t check my work email on my phone. Once I leave, I figure that, if someone really needs to get a hold of me, they’ll call or text.

Most, if not all, things can wait until tomorrow.

Last week, I took my first full week off since moving to Ohio nearly two years ago. We have slipped away here and there for parts of weeks or long weekends, but, thanks in part to the pandemic, I had not yet taken a full week off.

In days leading up to my time off, I started to question my decision: “What if X happens?” “What if Y happens?”

But I went, and we had a ball, renting a small cottage in a remote location and spending a full week focusing on our family unit of four.

And, lo and behold, where we were, we did not have great service on the phone. The ability to make calls and check emails was intermittent, which further bolstered my decision to tone way down my connectivity to the outside world during that week.

I wasn’t perfect. I found ways to check in, I took a couple of calls similar to those my dad used to take when he had a similar role as mine. But the awesome employees who are the heart and soul of our newspapers did their thing and made things happen during my week away.

I share this story only because I know I’m not the only one wired like that. I implore us all to lead more balanced lives, especially those of us who feel a deep sense of responsibility to our workplace.

The single best thing one can do to be a productive employee is to take care of one’s self, and I can think of no better way to do this than a carefree week off.

Jeremy Speer is the publisher of The Courier in Findlay, Ohio, The Advertiser-Tribune in Tiffin, Ohio, and the Review Times in Fostoria, Ohio. He can be reached at jeremyspeer@thecourier.com or jspeer@advertiser-tribune.com.