After today I’m going on vacation, back online on October 4th (yes, my birthday, for those who know me well!).
No, I won’t use the out-of-office email message above, one I featured in a post three years or so ago called “Why do people set out of office emails“. I think that tortures people too much 😉 In fact, I won’t set an out-of-office email at all. I’m not working while I’m on vacation, at all.
For me, and for my clients, this works, as “I don’t do deadline-based work“. That said, this vacation is deliberately planned to have me miss just one week of weekly client calls, so my clients and I have arranged things in advance so I can be totally offline on vacation. On the other hand, early next year I plan to take most of a month off, but while doing so I will continue to make client calls, as the nature of my work means keeping a regular rhythm with clients, so to miss four or so weeks would not be the right thing to do.
This is my approach and a conscious one. For others, your approach may vary.
My question for you from this is, though, how conscious are you of how available you are to your clients, for your work, particularly when on vacation?