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For so many business owners, it can be so hard to take a break from your business. Whether you are a solopreneur, small or large service-based company, a small business with a storefront … we all have one thing in common. It is hard to take time off!
Today I want to share some of my favorite tips for preparing for time off from your business. The way that these things get put into place may look different for each of you, depending on your business type, number of employees, etc. … but I encourage you to read through the tips and see how they can be adjusted to work for you in your business.
1. Let your clients know about your vacation or holiday schedule
This perhaps applies more to solopreneurs than it does to businesses with employees, assuming you have employees who can run things for you in your absence. But, if you are going to be out of the office and your absence means no business will take place while you are away, you will want to let your clients know about your vacation schedule. Set those expectations and let them know that you will be unavailable during your selected dates.
If you work on a monthly retainer fee, work extra hours before you leave to get everything done for them ahead of time. If you have a storefront that will have its hours of operation adjusted due to your absence, put a sign on your door and post updates on your social media accounts. Our clients are people too, and they understand that everyone needs a break. As with many things in business, communication is the most important thing. Just let your clients know what is going on.
2. Set a vacation response on your email.
This is an important step to take. You don’t want someone to send you an important email while you are out of the office and then wonder why they aren’t hearing back from you. A vacation response lets them know you will be responding to all emails when you return. Once that responder is set, don’t check your email while you are out. If you do need to check it, don’t reply unless it’s absolutely necessary.
If you are concerned that you will miss something urgent, you could include your cell phone number in your vacation responder so they could reach you in the event of an urgent matter during your absence. A better alternative to this is to give them an employee’s phone number instead (if you have one.) This way, your employee can notify you if it truly is an urgent matter that needs your attention.
3. Set screen time limits on your mobile device(s)
Mobile devices have a way to limit your daily screen time. You can set preferences to have certain types of apps quit working once you have hit your daily quota of screen time spent. After all, you are going on vacation to enjoy new surroundings and adventures with your family and friends – not to scroll Facebook. On Apple devices, the settings have a “Screen Time” option where you can set limits. On Android devices, it’s called “Digital Wellbeing.”
Another option is to temporarily delete your social media and any other tempting apps from your device during your vacation. I actually did this for a full week in 2019 and it was amazing. I wrote a blog post all about my social media break after I got home from vacation if you’d like to check it out. My business was younger then, so I don’t think I could get by doing this now … but I definitely try very hard to limit my screen time while I’m out of the office.
4. Schedule your social media posts ahead to publish while you are out of the office.
One way to make your absence less noticeable (and to stay friendly with the social media algorithms) is to prepare and schedule social media content to post while you are out. Schedule it according to the same frequency you normally do, and no one will know the difference. One downside to having posts go live while you are out is that if you have posts going up, you should monitor your accounts for engagement purposes. This is another great thing that can be delegated to an employee in your absence, if possible.
5. Block out your calendar accordingly.
It’s also important to block out your calendar accordingly for the time you are going to be out. If you use an automated appointment scheduling software, make sure you block your time off as “busy” so no one can auto-book appointments. If you don’t integrate with Google Calendar, you can block dates out directly in the scheduling software too. (Sidenote, I use Appointlet and love it! It syncs (both ways) to Google Calendar and to Zoom – all in the free version.)
Taking mental and/or physical breaks from what we do is so important to our overall well-being. It can’t be all business all the time – not for anyone. So, take that break soon, and please let me know which one of these tips is your favorite!
Do you have any other awesome tips to share about how YOU prepare for time off from your business? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
