With Christmas fast approaching, thoughts naturally wander to relaxing by the tree, eating far too much food, and enjoying some quality family time. But for business owners, this might be easier said than done. 

The urge to work through the holiday period is often overwhelming for freelancers and business owners, but everyone needs to prioritise rest every now and then. And recharging your batteries over Christmas and New Year is one of the best ways to prepare yourself for a productive year.

So, how exactly do you go about taking time off when the buck stops with you? Here are my tips for taking time off at Christmas (or any other time) and ensuring your business doesn’t suffer. 

Plan well in advance

First things first, you need to decide exactly how much time you are taking off. If you are vague about this, don’t be surprised if you end up working when you are supposed to be relaxing.

This will also give you a countdown of the number of days you have to complete your work before you are scheduled to take time off. Once you know when you’ll be in the office and when you’ll be leaving, you can plan your work schedule accordingly.

Let your clients or customers know

If you don’t let clients and customers know that you’ll be taking time off, you can expect to see requests piling into your inbox right up until when you try to leave the office. This can spell disaster if a client has last-minute requests that cannot wait.

To avoid any awkwardness and potential missed deadlines, send an email to your clients and customers and let them know when you will be available and when they can submit requests until. Make it clear that requests received after a certain day will not be dealt with until after you return from your short break.

Protect your time

Just like you would with a customer or client, mark the time on your calendar as “busy”. This will help you to avoid letting anything encroach on this special time.

If clients have access to your calendar, they will see you are occupied, rather than seeing a gap in your schedule. This will make them much less likely to push your boundaries and ask for work when you have already determined your holidays.

Write your out-of-office

Your out-of-office should do more than just inform people that you aren’t there. Make it functional by offering suggestions for what to do with their enquiry. Here’s a great example:

“Hello,

I am out of the office until 3rd January 2023.

If you need immediate assistance during this time, please call XXXXX XXX XXX. 

Otherwise, I will respond to your email as soon as possible upon my return.

Many thanks,”

By offering a phone number to use in emergencies, you will have some reassurance that any truly urgent matters will get through to you. This will allow you to stop checking your emails, as you can be confident that all emergencies will result in a phone call.

Struggling to get it all done in time? Working with a virtual assistant is a great way to streamline your time and ensure you’re able to switch off over the Christmas period. Get in touch today to learn more!