Every month when I send out my client billing, I let them know which days I will be out of the office in the coming month.
It’s an easy habit to get into – I can book off whatever days I want, and they get enough notice so we can make plans to get their work done on their deadlines.
I have done it for quite a while now and my clients now just have to take my email and update their own calendar. It’s quick and easy!
How do you take time off?
Do you take time off? Maybe that’s the first question to ask!
I used to never take time off. I was usually the only support staff that my clients had and I felt like I was not really able to be away from their work.
Being out of the office for any reason used to kind of stress me out. I had this sense that they couldn’t be without me- that it would create SO much extra work to try to take a few days off, that it just was not worth it.
Boy, was I wrong!
How did I figure this amazing lesson out?
First things first, one of my business coaches taught me that I am responsible TO my client’s business – not FOR it.
That was an amazing, eye-opening, BAM moment for me.
It’s true! It’s their business! THEY are responsible for it!
It is my responsibility to help support them with the tasks that I do. But it’s certainly not my responsibility to make sure that their business never fails, or stops running.
That was a huge lesson for me.
As soon as I started acting like a business owner, my clients treated me more like one.
They took time off. They left the office during the day to go to appointments and events. They rejigged their schedule when they were travelling somewhere.
So, now I do too.
It’s a funny shift to make when you realize that you can do whatever you want – if you haven’t done it yet I highly recommend it!
A few hours, a day, a long weekend, or a couple of days is typically easier to manage than, say, a couple of weeks off.
It’s easy to shift your own work around a short term out of office notice.
So how do you take holidays?
You have to find someone who is able to step in for you.
You have to have your procedures documented.
You have to know that they can handle things if you are unable to check in – or you must be able to check in if they can not.
We took a 10 day holiday a couple of years ago. Three days we were at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios (so no way to work), and then three others we were on a cruise (also no access to work stuff).
So I made plans to be offline those days and then to check in the days in between. I had someone looking after certain things that had to be done, and we checked in too.
It made my vacation so much easier knowing that I had planned my schedule accordingly and that I had someone in place to help me get the work done.
Another time I was away for a 5 day mastermind session and I was able to have one of the girls on my team take over completely for those days. I did a quick daily check in but nothing at all came up. It’s easy to plan!
Do you take holidays? What is your plan? I’d love to hear it!