OUT OF OFFICE (really)

Steps to make it easier to leave your business for a week or two

Summer is nearing its end and you haven’t taken a vacation.

For many of us who run businesses, this time of year can be riddled with anxiety at the thought of leaving work behind. But most of the time, there is no basis in reality for this fear.

Usually, the issue is about letting go of control-freak tendencies and allowing yourself to rest, relax and trust your team. Your business is not likely to fall apart without constant observation.

Time away from the office also can improve your mental state and can even spark creativity. The ideas for major businesses such as Instagram and the musical “Hamilton” were inspired on vacation, CNBC reports. If you can’t let go, here are some tips to make it easier to take time off and stay that way while you are on vacation.

1. Book two transition days

Have you ever sent a final work email from the airplane as you were about to take off for a big trip? That last-minute racing around is brutal.

To ensure that doesn’t happen, use a buffer day. The day before your vacation, block out an open day with no meetings on your calendar and no big priorities.

Use this day to hand off any lastminute items on your to-do list, clear out your email inbox and get super organized for your return. Inevitably, a few last-minute tasks will pop up, but you will have time allotted to handle them.

Similarly, do not book any big meetings for your first day back in the office. Allow a transition day after your return. It will give you time to get back up to speed, catch up on emails and ease back into things.

Explain this approach to your team, so they understand the concept. Encourage them to do the same thing when they have vacation time.

2. Appoint a deputy for anything that arises that doesn’t have a natural owner

For most of us, assigning one deputy for everything is impractical and unnecessary. However, it’s good to have a point person who is the team’s go-to for any unexpected needs that arise while you are away.

You can relax knowing that this person will field anything unusual.

3. Set up an ironclad out-of-office message

This sounds obvious, but some people don’t do it. Many of us believe that always being available is a sign of devotion, and that writing an out-of-office message signals to the world that we are not serious about our business. This is nonsense.

For one thing, setting up an out-ofoffice message alerts people that you are gone and should not be bothered. It also means you don’t have to send those annoying “I am sorry I didn't reply to your email right away” messages when you return.

Setting an out-of-office message also indicates that you are organized, value work/life balance and trust your team. It’s a simple, but powerful, way to unplug.

4. Give your deputy a way to contact you if there’s a true emergency

The first step to giving yourself permission to step away entirely is to feel confident that if something does come up while you are away, your team knows how to contact you. Ideally, you want this to be through an alternate channel, otherwise you will need to check your inbox and needlessly be stressed by the number of messages coming in.

I give my deputy my personal email address and tell her to use it if anything crucial arises. And then I put an out-ofoffice message on my business email with my deputy as the point of contact, and let her determine if anything needs to be brought to my attention.

5. Stack the deck in your favor

About two weeks before you leave, send a reminder to your team about your upcoming vacation and ask them to consider where they may need your input in advance. Send a similar note a few days before you will be gone. Put the responsibility on your team to get questions answered before you leave.

Devote some time to outlining what projects will likely need work while you are off and identify those that need your involvement. In most cases, your team is capable of handling everything, but if there’s a genuine exception, work ahead as much as possible and push back the timeframe for things you can’t handle before you leave.

6. Don’t work — no cheating!

If you can’t let work go for at least a week for your own sanity, do it for your team’s sake. If you work while you are on holiday, that’s a direct message to your team that they should, too. It also sends the message that you don’t trust the people you hired.

All of us need time to rest and recharge; CEOs are no different.

Carrie McKeegan is the CEO and co-founder of Greenback Expat Tax Services.