Do You Even OOO?

It was the Friday before Christmas and I was prepping to send out my newsletter, and my first thought was, "Oh, I'm excited to read the OOO message people have set up!"
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Yeah. I know there are strategic days/times to send these newsletters out, but in this season I'm simply sticking to my "1 email a week" commitment to myself. I can't control too many things right now, but this one!
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So, why am I excited about the OOO messages? Because I love it when I get ones that are not the typical "I'll be out until January 2nd." And if that's your style, I'm not throwing shade I'm super proud you set one up!
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My friend Erica always has amazing ones. A day off with her kiddo to celebrate his birthday, that she's participating in a conference for something, or that she is working on a big project for a client and won't be in her email.
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I love it because it does a couple of things:
- gives a peek into their personality
- sets expectations for the client to know when they'll receive a response
- empowers other business owners to step the F away sometimes
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Did that last one surprise you?
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In the past, I would worry that if I showed I was taking a break, potential clients would think I wasn't taking on clients or they wouldn't think I took my work seriously (don't you love those inner thoughts our brain tries to throw at us?). That was until one client said, "I'd love to see you working on a house project in the middle of the day because it would help give her permission not to feel like she had to work all.the.time. And that a break in the day is one of the reasons she wanted to start her own business!
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Wild huh?
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So, I’m just here to encourage you to set up that OOO while you completely step away from work or even step away from front-facing work but tackle some backend work you haven't gotten to!
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I hope you had a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, and have an amazing and safe New Year!