Save Your Out of Office Checklist
By Tana M. Mann Easton, Lead Efficiency Engineer
December is a time when many of us enjoy more time with family, and we use some of our precious vacation time. You know I love checklists, and I found keeping an out of office checklist that I referenced each time I took time off really helped me to have peace of mind when I finally turned on that out of office assistant and left the office. Here are some items on my out of office checklist:
-Check if anyone else has the day off (to make sure there is coverage in my absence)
-Book travel
-Inform family members of travel details and coordinate any childcare or other details
-Formally request time off
-Send an evite to team members or mark shared calendar (to alert team of my planned absence)
-Update my note where I record my vacation days (I’m always keeping track of how many days I’ve already taken, when/for what, and how many I have left for the year to make sure I have a plan for taking every day)
-Block the day on my Outlook calendar (so I know not to schedule anything new)
-Remove or move anything already on calendar for days when I’ll be gone
-Create a task for one week before travel to alert my colleagues of my absence, start my pending document and work on it throughout the week, as well as go to the bank to get cash or foreign currency and do any car maintenance like oil changes or tire inflation (my pending document is what my colleagues will need to know or do in my absence, I make sure I discuss what needs to be done and that they’re ok with performing those tasks in my absence)
-Create a task to start packing a week before absence if I’m traveling away from home
-Create a task for the morning of the last day I’m in the office for reminders (remind everyone I'm out, print boarding pass if needed, refill EZ pass for tolls if needed)
-Create a task for the afternoon of the last day I’m in the office for reminders (turn on Out of Office Assistant on email, send pending document to relevant colleagues, check flight status, submit my timesheet, check destination weather)
I knew if I did everything on this checklist that I could turn my work brain off and enjoy my time off because everything was covered. You may have different items on your out of office checklist, but the above items may be a good starting point to develop you own. I hope your list will help you to more fully enjoy your well-deserved time off.
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Sincerely Yours,
Focus to Evolve Team