By Six Degrees Society
There is nothing more awful than sitting on a beach with a frozen drink in hand to receive a text message from your work colleague asking a question about an important meeting coming up. They know you’re on vacation, they’ve seen your out of office, yet the question they have is urgent and they need an answer immediately. It’s time to set healthy boundaries for you take vacation time and a day off without stress. Here are four ways to set professional boundaries with work.
1. Set expectations right out of the gate
Sure, it’s hard to tell your new employers that you are going to be off the grid when you go on vacation but it’s important to set those expectations right out of the gate. Something like “When I go on vacation I remove my email from my phone so as not to get distracted from the healing benefits of vacation. In my other company it worked best to review everything that might come up before I go so there are no distractions.” Also learn to say no to the things you can’t take on.
2. Include an out of office with the times in which you respond to emails
There is nothing better than a daily out of office that bounces back when you’re actually checking and responding to email. Manage expectations and providing them with a timeline on when they will hear back from you via email will ease their need to follow up on multiple platforms.
3. Use a calendar scheduling tool to have people work to your schedule
No one likes having a meeting added to their calendar for 5pm on Friday night. So, use a calendar tool to send out for people to book and block your calendar for times that don’t work for you to meet. Take control of your schedule and your calendar and allow time for work to get done.
4. The time in which you respond is a boundary. Remember that.
If you respond to text messages and emails immediately you’ll train others that you respond quickly. Your response time is a boundary and way to train an individual on how you are going to respond. If you respond slow to text messages but fast to email it’ll teach them to only email you.
If you’re still struggling with setting professional boundaries you can dig deeper with Brene Brown and how she sets boundaries. Setting boundaries starts today and hopefully your next vacation will be more relaxing.
