What Does “Vacation” Mean to YOU?
In the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, "vacation" is defined as "a period of several days or weeks spent away from work or school etc., used esp. for recreation and travel; a holiday."
With today’s technology, a growing number of executives and small business owners rarely, if ever, take a vacation in the traditional sense, where they go away somewhere (or stay at home) and just relax, or maybe do some projects around the house. Instead, they bring along their laptops and/or PDAs so they can stay on top of their email, even if it’s only for half an hour a day. I know one small business owner who took a vacation week earlier this summer. She didn’t go away; in fact, she didn’t even stop working. Instead, she made herself unavailable to clients, and used the time to focus on some writing projects for her own business.
Last year, I took my first vacation in many years, and for the most part, it was work-free. I love my work, but it was great to be able to just relax and enjoy my surroundings and the company of my family. I was able to do that by notifying my regular clients well in advance that I would not be available during that time, putting an "out of office" message on my email and voicemail, and letting everyone know they could contact my subcontractor if they needed anything while I was away. I also let my subcontractor know how I could be reached if there were any emergencies, so I didn’t have to worry about anything. And you know what? The world didn’t fall apart because I wasn’t there to manage things! And it’s not because business was slow – in fact the months before and after that week were some of the busiest I’ve ever had.
What are your vacation plans? Will you travel or stay at home? Will you check messages, work on your business, or go for complete R&R?
Are you worried about losing business to your competition if you don’t check your email every day? Are you afraid of coming home to hundreds of emails?
Organized Assistant can help you relax and truly enjoy your vacation, by monitoring your email while you are away. Depending on your requirements, we will:
- Delete obvious spam
- Respond to routine inquiries
- Set up appointments for when you return
- Delete newsletters, event invitations, etc.
Please contact me if you’d like more information about this or any of our services.
