I’m not a workaholic, but I do have trouble letting go of my job. I tend to think the sky will fall if I walk away from the desk for a while or that during my absence I’ll miss the chance of a lifetime. I feel responsible for the business, and so, I am ever-present to make sure we never miss that chance.
One problem is that I think everyone else is that way, too. I assume that everyone in a virtual world business is constantly present. When I am expecting a reply to communication or don’t hear from someone for longer than a day, I start to worry. Did my email not reach its destination? Is there a glitch in the system? Beyond two days without a word, I worry more. Is the person alright? Have they been hit by a car? Are they even still alive?
I do take personal time. I do sleep. I eat too, and I take care of other things that need taking care of. I spend time with my kids, and I have days where I just need wide open green spaces and sunshine – a place to breathe.
When I do walk away from the job, I let people know. That’s important in business, and that’s the reason for this post. I contacted someone last week and didn’t hear back for five days. He lost the assignment, of course, and his excuse was that his email forwarding while he was on vacation hadn’t worked well. (I wasn’t even aware he had left on vacation.) I’ve had other people leave in the middle of email negotiations to go on vacation without notice. They pop back into existence two or three weeks later and wonder why I didn’t know where they were.
Free time is necessary, but walking away without notice is unacceptable. Stay in touch with your co-workers and clients. Here’s how:
- Let them know your time zone. Not everyone lives where you live.
- Let people know when you work, from daily hours to days of the week. If you don’t work on weekends or specific weekdays, tell them from the start.
- Don’t assume that everyone takes weekends off – it isn’t the case anymore, and a Monday to Friday job is becoming rarer in the virtual world.
- Record a message for your answering machine or cell phone that tells people you’re away. Tell them when you’ll be back, too.
- Before you leave on vacation, let everyone know that needs to.
- Set your email auto-responder so that people at least have a quick reply, even if it isn’t a direct answer to their communication.
- If an emergency crops up, try to have someone login to your email and set up an auto-responder or answer emails with a brief note.
We live in a me, myself and I world. Man is an island, it’s been said. We think that everyone magically knows we’re not available just because we know we’re not. That isn’t the case. Think ahead and plan your absences to include respect for those that deal with you.
