Bells are ringing, plans are being made, the family is coming into town, and with that, chaos is all around. We know how crazy the holidays can get: traveling, cooking, last-minute shopping; it all just seems to be so much in such a short period of time. On top of that, you are balancing your career.
Skip the hassle this year with these tips to make your 'out of office' time this holidays season cheerful and bright.
- Clean out your inbox – Declutter your inbox; you'll feel better! Get rid of unneeded emails and reply to any that you have meant to get too. This way, when you come back from holiday vacation, you can have a clean slate.
- Set client / customer expectations – It is important to communicate that you will be out of the office and set expectations well in advance. Before the holidays, touch base with your clients to help with anything they may need as well as giving them your availability or next best person for them to contact while you are out.
- Create an out of office plan with your team – Having a calendar that shows your teams' tasks, as well as their time away, can help when it comes to planning work around time off. Think through all the work that needs to be done while you're away, changing tasks for who can cover what.
- Truly disconnect – When you take time away from the office, make sure you are disconnecting, enjoying your time off. This means not continuously checking emails or answering work calls. Research consistently shows the benefits of taking vacation time, like lower stress and better mental health. This is your time to relax!
- Use your management tools – Having a tool that provides document storage and deadline notifications can be a huge help and time-saver while you are on vacation. Software, like EntityKeeper, provides one, secure place for important files, that both colleagues and customers can access while you are out of office. Meaning they don't have to interrupt your time away for them.
Have any strategies that have helped you get ready for your time away? We would love to hear, leave your tip in the comments!
We're here to help make sure your time out of the office is exactly that.. time out of the office!
