Nice Work Advice on being out of the office

Healthy detachment is vital for your work-relationship

Hi there!

How’s summer hanging? Are you traveling? Beaching on the weekends? Hiking? BBQing? Sweltering under an extra hot sun and praying for fall? 

Personally, I’ve never been busier than ever with BOTH workload and social activities and I’m drawing such value from having been able to sink into our “time off” theme this past month. Even in the chaos, time for ourselves is the missing link in making sure we still feel taken care of. And in this busy season of mine, I’m leaning not only on upcoming larger spans of time off but also the reinvention of my daily routine that makes room for my needs. Like setting a strict, no phone and no work rule for the first hour of waking, not skipping lunch 🫠, less alcohol to better be in my body and present with my loved ones, and reading A Court of Thorns and Roses (anyone?!) before bed.

In this month’s advice column, we’re answering questions about managing your time off or issues/themes that come up around being OOO. If you ever have a question about anything work/creativity/mindfulness, you can always reply with it, directly to any of our newsletter emails, leave us a comment on substack or DM us on Instagram! We’ll pull from them as we continue these monthly Q+As!

PS - Free subscribers get the first 2 questions and answers in their inbox no matter what. Paid subscribers get unlimited access to questions and answers each month. If you want to hop on board the subscriber train for €5/month, you can do that below!

Okay, let’s get into your questions. Let us know if they resonate!

Jade

Get caught up on the last month! ✨

This is your sign to book a day off

The importance of play

Afraid of going away on holiday?

Nice Work Advice Column 

On prepping for vacation, embracing being OOO, and building healthy detachment from work when you’re away.

Q: Hey! So I’m an entrepreneur and am in pretty early stages of building my business, which means I am a party of one. No employees and no team, outside of the clients I work with. I am alllll for taking time off and honestly really need it, but since my pay is directly connected to having sessions with clients, it feels hard to take time away both financially and also because I feel guilty for not being consistent for my clients since we meet weekly or biweekly…

Jade:

Hi! I so feel this. I want to answer this from a boundaries angle, though there are certainly solutions around how to make sure you feel financially stable as an entrepreneur to take time off. Rachel’s formula for setting your rate in this past edition of ours may be helpful for that!

But back to the other thing - your guilt. I get this. Especially as someone whose line of work sounds like it’s in helping people in some way, becoming unavailable for that can be extra hard. Here’s what’s worked for me. I set 3-month containers with all of my one-on-one clients, so we both know the time frame we’re committing to with each other. Within that time frame, I’m ON with them on a regular weekly schedule. However, I also have “blackout” months, where I take breaks from my direct work with clients, take vacation or pick up work with more time flexibility.

In the event that a month feels out of the question to step away from your direct working relationships, I’ve learned that the communication of a plan to take time off + creating some “fun” around what the client might do with their usual meeting time while you’re away often set a valuable example and lesson for that client that should be part of the work you do with them, in any capacity! Which is: the goal of your client work is not to have them need you all the time, but instead, to trust you and trust themselves to keep momentum with the tools you offer them.

Rachel:

Hi fellow entrepreneur! Some tough love questions coming at you. What quality of work do your clients pay you for? What level of attention? What level of energy? What level of skill? As someone who has hired many a contractor/freelancer, I always have an idea of the kind of value-add I’m expecting in return for the money we pay them. And whew, let me tell you, it starts to become very obvious when that person is tired, needing a break, needing time away, needing a reset. You should be looking to take time off well in advance of this happening, because while you might be securing financial support in the short term by continuing to be present, you’re kneecapping your long-term earning potential if, by overworking, you start delivering less value. That doesn’t make you a failure - that’s what happens to ALL humans without a way to rest/recharge. Also, I think most humans know that humans take holidays/time off. It’s a part of doing business. Just plan it well in advance and let them know VERY well in advance.

Q: Tbh I more so could use help on how to better my relationships AT work while I’m there so asking someone to help me manage my workload while I’m out feels less random and awkward. My company is fully remote so I’ve never even met my coworkers in person, and it feels so hard to get to know them.

Jade: 

I really love this, because it brings us back to the core of what makes most interpersonal things (work is interpersonal if you’re on a team) go smoothly, which is, rich human connection. The virtual set up definitely makes it tough in that you’ll likely have to put in a bit more effort than you normally would if you were in the office.

There have only been a handful of times that someone in my virtual work environments has reached out to me directly to simply set up a 20 minute coffee chat to get to know each other, and to this day I remember and admire each person who did that for me, and ultimately for us! The act of reaching out alone made me feel really valued, and setting the tone that the point of connecting was for person-to-person purposes and not necessarily to do a work task made all the work we DID do together after that, so much more enjoyable. 

So I’d say, be the one who reaches out! If you’ve been at the company for a while, you might slack or email them and say, “Hey! I feel like we haven’t had the chance to catch up on LIFE in so long! Do you have 15 mins to chit chat before lunch?” or if you are new or someone else is new to the team you might say, “Hi! I’m so excited to start working with you :) would love to set up some time to properly meet and get to know each other this week! Want to have a coffee chat Friday morning?

One other small thing I really like to do is respond to coworkers' emails or ping them on slack or teams to tell them I noticed the way they approached or handled something, and was impressed by it. Of course, I only say this when I mean it, but how many times do we think something without sharing it? I find that it goes a layer under just answering their question or sending them info they want or need. Positive feedback and reinforcement is how we make it safe for others to also receive constructive criticism or be open to offering help, because they get to learn that we see them in their full capacity.

Rachel:

To receive this kind of support, you should offer this kind of support. Figure out who is going away next, and reach out to them proactively (at least a few weeks before) to see if you can start joining some calls with them, attending some meetings, etc. That way, you also have time to have a few handover sessions with this person, which is a nice way to build rapport. Then, schedule the same for when they return so you can onboard them to whatever they’ve missed. 

At the end of this, you’ve: 

1. Worked closer with a colleague on work things (not just socialising time).

2. Helped them have a relaxing holiday. 

3. Learned more about what they do. 

It will then feel less awkward to ask them to help you on when you go away, because you’ve already built up your working relationship. 

Q: What if I actually don’t trust my coworkers to execute my workload while I’m out? Like, I’m the one who kind of always takes the lead.