How to not think about work on vacation
Last week my family took our first big, international vacation since the Before Times.
I knew that I wanted to completely unplug from work while we were away. In the past I always kept one foot in work while on vacation, continuing to check and respond to email (despite having an autoresponder that clearly stated I was away on vacation) or even creating invoices while on the beach. Once I even snuck off to the hotel business centre to work on a client project.
I’ll be honest – I did this because I thought that I had to. Having to check in on work despite being on vacation was a marker of success because it meant that I was booked and busy.
I thought that it was cool and glamorous to work on personal time. As if I could have it all by doing it all, at the same time.
Quite frankly, I was afraid. Afraid that if I didn’t respond right away or make myself available the work would just disappear and I would end up a miserable failure.
Now I don’t want to live my life that way or run my business like that either. And I know now that I don't have to. I took on the risk and uncertainty of doing my own thing precisely because I want to do my own thing.
I want to work when I want to. More importantly, I don’t want to work when I don’t want to! Clients that don’t respect my boundaries just aren’t the right fit for Slow & Steady.
Being able to completely unplug from my business for a week started by simply making the decision that I wasn't going to work or respond to communications while I was away, and then planning for it accordingly.
With summer just around the corner I hope that you’re planning to take time away from working and your business too. If you need some tips and inspiration for how to do that, here’s what worked for me:
Planning for it
Maybe this feels too obvious, but I was able to take this time away from work simply because I planned for it. It will always feel like it’s not the right time if you don’t build in time off into your business plans.
I am a big fan of Lexi Merrit’s Big Picture Planning Method which starts with plotting personal dates and time off when planning your business.
While my work is flexible, my partners’ is not and our vacations get slotted into the weeks and months while the TV shows he works on are on hiatus. I knew months in advance when he would have free time for traveling and I made sure to plan my own work around these dates.
Set strategic deadlines
Because I knew months in advance that I would be taking time off in May, I planned my business accordingly and set strategic deadlines. In practice, that meant that all consulting client deliverables were finished before I went away. Knowing that there weren’t any loose ends waiting for me at my desk helped me relax.
I also planned my winter/spring cohort of Flourish clients to be wrapped up before my vacation so I could close those containers and come back to a fresh start.
Communicate early and often
I made sure that both my consulting and one-one-one advising clients knew when I would be away and unresponsive to communications. I did this by:
Including an “upcoming out of office” line in my email signature so every email that I sent clearly stated when I would be unavailable
Outlining my communication guidelines and expectations in my client onboarding packages which clearly stated when I would be on vacation
Sending a reminder email a week ahead of my time OOO
Hit pause on marketing
Yes consistency is important when it comes to marketing your business and chances are that taking a week or two or even a month off probably isn’t going to make your business come tumbling down – especially if you planned for it ahead of time!
Initially I had planned to pre-schedule my newsletter and Just Enough Session promos, but then a week before I left I was reminded/inspired by my friend Podge Thomas at Small Business Co-Pilot that I could just… be on vacation.
I’m so glad that I did.
Because here’s what would happen in the past: first I’d have to do double or triple the work in the weeks leading up to my vacation to make sure the content was written, built out and scheduled.
And then while I was away I’d sneak into Flodesk to make sure those emails got sent. Then I’d “just take a quick look” at the analytics, which would lead to going into my inbox to see if anyone had replied to my emails or booked a call or whatever and then before I knew it… I was working.
Don’t take work with you
Slow & Steady primarily exists online and in the cloud. So after I signed off for my vacation, I deleted apps like Notion and Voxer from my phone. I unsynced my work email and calendars and made sure to log out of any work-related websites that I use on my phone browser.
I also used Boomerang to pause my inbox so I could rest assured that there wasn’t going to be any emails waiting for me which was a great deterrent!
Build in a buffer
Coming home to a calendar full of calls and new deadlines sounds stressful and unappetizing, so I made sure that I had a couple of days with no plans to ease back into work upon my return. I did this by blocking off days in my booking software, keeping my autoresponder on for a couple extra days and making sure that I included my buffer days in my “official” vacation days so no one expected anything from me during that time. Any email responses or client calls that happened on these days were a bonus!
It’s not only possible to take time away from work and your business, it’s a necessity. Being able to unplug is a key component in growing your business, slow and steady.
I’d love to hear your tips and tricks for taking time off and if you’re struggling with getting out of the office, let’s talk.
