How to Prep for OOO

Hello friends!  Happy holidays! It's the most wonderful time of the year when everyone gets time off and freelancers look on with envy. It's really hard to take time away, especially when your business is in the early stages and it feels like any break will set you back. The company that Arabela and I worked at before would always close their office the week of Christmas and New Years and so we continued that schedule when we started Weekend Creative. It's something that we look forward to every year.

By the time December rolls around we typically both feel a little burnt out and are in need of a breather. We set all of our goals for the next year, wrap up any final projects and close our computers (for the most part) until January. It's not always easy but we're always glad when we come back refreshed and ready to take on a new year. If it's hard for you to take time away from your work, here are a few tips that have helped us!

It's Important to Take BreaksFirst, remember that you deserve a break. You've worked hard all year, and really what's the point in being your own boss if you don't allow yourself to enjoy taking time away when you want it? You get to decide when you take breaks which is one of the huge perks of being a freelancer. This goes for the entire year, not just at the holidays!

In addition to deserving a break, you need one. It's so important to have space from your work for your own mental health and the health of your business. Working around the clock will only lead to burnout, eventually stunting your company growth. When we take time away, we're able to have the energy to keep moving forward which means that breaks can actually be really productive even though it may not feel that way at the time.

Schedule Breaks Into Your YearThe easiest way to make sure you have time for breaks is to schedule them out at the beginning of the year. If you have vacations you want to take, plan those out and also plan out how much time you'll be taking away during the holidays. This way you can make sure to take projects with deadlines that will work with the breaks you have planned. You'll also be able to look forward to your time off so you can just that to motivate yourself with times are crazy.

Work Ahead  About a month before your scheduled break, think about all of the projects you have coming up and how you can get everything done so you can actually take a break. I mean if you work during your break, that's not actually a break right? Make a list of all the tasks you need to do and prioritize them. I know I personally tend to think everything is important and that I can get absolutely everything done before taking time away but that's just not realistic.

You're a freelancer, you will always have work to do so pick what is absolutely essential and make a plan for getting it done in advance. Think about what you have coming up right after your break and think through if you need to get started on any of those things as well so that you're set up for a less stressful return. Preschedule as much as you can so that you don't have to do anything at all during the break if possible.

Set an OOOIn order to really have time away, it can be helpful to give your clients a heads up that you will be out of the office so that they're aware that your responses may be slower. It's also nice to put up an auto response so that you don't feel pressure to respond to any new inquiries or anything else that comes through your inbox. Here's an example of the one we usually use:

Subject: We're Enjoying an Extra Long Weekend

Hello!

Thank you for your email. We're currently out of the office to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. Non-urgent emails will be responded to when we are back in the office on 1/4/2022.

Thank you for your understanding!

Best,

Elle and Arabela

Limit Your Access to Work As I mentioned, it's not really a break if you still do work. It's helpful to know your limits, some people can check in on work and not get sucked back in, but some people can't. I know that if I check emails then I can get worked up or stressed about things so sometimes I shouldn't even check in at all. I do think that's the healthiest and the way to have the best break if you can. Close your laptop, delete your email and social media apps off your phone, do whatever you need to do to keep yourself from working. Remember that there really is no such thing as a photo emergency, whatever anyone needs from you can wait.

I hope you all get some time to rest this holiday season! Let us know below if you'll be taking time away and if you have any other tips to share!

Is it the weekend yet? 

Elle