Out of office
OOO AJ: learning to actually log off
In May 2024, AJ Keirans wrote about why out-of-office messages are a reminder that we all have lives outside work. Before a week off in April 2025, he followed his own advice.
April 11, 2025:
Following the current trend, this is OOO AJ.
Setting your Out of Office message for an extended time away from the office is a great feeling, but it has taken me many years to trust it and actually disconnect. When you're in sales, you think about your quota, you think about your customers getting the same level of support and given the current job market worry or you may even project that the team might not miss you and even allow yourself to think you are replaceable. I know these are all things that I thought about over the years and many times it caused me to sneak to check my emails and phone causing me to not be in the moment and truly being off. You walk the company line of always being available to create a persona for the business, but you can suffer because of it.
Regardless of your role or industry you are part of a team and that team should want everyone to have a better life / work balance. If you can't take off and enjoy the well-deserved time, they won't have the same luxury when their schedule permits. You're enforcing the culture and want it to be somewhere where you respect each other's time. Also it is a nice nod that you trust your colleagues and know that they will do a great job while you're recharging.
As a small business owner, my goal is to be present and offline as much as possible next week. We are still in our early years, so I justify it as the hard work that got us here is what makes the vacation available and with the help of SPF100 and a solid hammock I'm looking for this to start a trend and follow my own advice. It's also a great moment to affirm you're surrounded by great humans who are essential to your success. Give folks the opportunity to grow and evolve in the business with more responsibility and you will learn a lot too.
The year before, May 2, 2024:
One of my favorite emails to get is someone's 'Out of Office' message. It makes my mind wonder what they are doing with their time or just more about their story.
Even better when the time is substantial and they can be away from the office for a race, vacation, staycation, important event/cause or something even more special like the birth of a child. It is a good reminder that we are working with other humans and that we all have other things going on in our lives. Hard work is important and something that should be the standard and also celebrated, but work can't be the end all be all. When a client or partner shares with me what they are doing or where they are going it is a great feeling, add in some pictures after the fact and I'm ecstatic.
Don't forget to take time for yourself and enjoy the fruits of all of your hard work or even just a breather. Life-work balance is so important. It's also good to step away for a minute to reinforce that there are people and processes in place to make it possible. Not to mention, to remind others of how much you are doing and responsible for when you are in the office, maybe a little dose of absence makes the heart grow fonder.
And let's not forget the other end of the spectrum here, burnout. Given the current landscape and the waves of layoffs and downsizing, people can fear that they have to do more and more to justify their role and that can be very scary. If you aren't operating at your maximum efficiency you might be working 1.5-2x more but is the output the same?
I know we don't want to turn LI into FB. I cheated and shared vacation photos and the post was one of the most engaged things I've ever created, so there is something there.
It makes me think about the messages like the ones regularly shared by Dan Lake. Those resonate with me for many reasons. They've led us to connect and I look forward to meeting in person this year. I am not sure there is work for us to do together, but that can't be your driving force either. Think about that. Don't connect with people just because you see them as a prospect or a $$$.
Action Item / Suggestion: What if folks put up an Out of Office Message on Linkedin and share with their network. I'd welcome that.
