I have gone on plenty of vacations in my life, but I have never actually created an out-of-office message. That’s partly because there’s no other contact to direct people to, and the usual point of an o-o-o message, that I’ll return your note in a few days…tends to be true all the time. It might be a little slower if I’m checking email less frequently, but I do still check email. Friends and family reach me at the same address so even if I mostly ignore the business stuff, I will be looking at some point. My usual approach is instead to email the people that I work closely with and let them know I will be gone. But if we’re working really closely, then they know, because we’ve built our work-flow around it.
Anyway, all this is to say I will be on vacation next week. I will likely pop in here at some point to post about next week’s Best of Both Worlds episode. We shall see if that happens on Tuesday.
I have been thinking about that cliche of a “much-needed vacation.” I know, full well, that a vacation with five children (particularly the toddler) is not going to be relaxing. Indeed, my normal working life is far more relaxing, because I have regular childcare. Then again, this week has not been relaxing either. Some of that is the crush of stuff that happens to get seven people moving from one place to another. And some is other random bureaucratic nonsense that rears its head and sucks up energy. I know I didn’t help matters along by catastrophizing (is that a word?) but sleep deprivation and stress will do that.
So, as usual, I will remind myself of good stuff that I recorded on my time log over the past few days. I had another nice sushi lunch with my 11-year-old. This time he ordered sashimi and ate it! We had two really good Sunbasket meals this week, especially a deconstructed pastrami sandwich turned into a salad. I have never had little pickles on a salad before but I am a fan! Last night my husband and I went out for a date night trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and saw their new exhibition spaces. He cooked me lobster ravioli afterwards, and it was good. I went for a trail run. I went in the pool solo for a bit (that *was* relaxing). I cranked out an acceptable draft of Chapter 4 in Tranquility by Tuesday. I got enough ahead on Before Breakfast that I don’t have to worry about that until after vacation, and I did two great interviews for Best of Both Worlds.
When I list all that it sounds decent. Plus the kids are enjoying their camps (off to another camp show today!)
I imagine there are some fairly odd out-of-office messages out there — just like departure memos. Some people can’t resist adding a little something to the basic information…
By the way, several episodes ago in Best of Both Worlds, Sarah and I were wondering how a nanny-share would work, legally. My payroll company, GTM, posted an article on that exact question on their blog — so check it out if you’ve pondered that option.
Enjoy your “much needed” vacation!!!!!!
And yes, “catastrophizing” is a word! Our friend Paula Davis writes about it quite a bit and its negative impact on our resilience.
I also respond to email on vacation, but I still put up the o3 message to deflect minor bs that really just needs to wait. And there is A LOT of it. Ps- Catastrophizing is a word.
We do a nanny share with another family. Something that is quite helpful is having your payroll company set up three codes : family A only, family B only, and Family A +B. This allows for flexibility of different schedules from day to day while ensuring everyone is paying the right amount.