I work part-time at a day camp in the summer. It supplements my income as I don’t have a lot of students for my instructional business in the summer. I get paid to spend all day outdoors! But it means I’m not as responsive to emails or phone calls when someone is trying to reach me.

So I set up auto-responders for my email and I changed my voicemail greeting.

It’s quick to do, and it lets my students, clients and potential clients know that I’ve received their message and I’ll get back to them within a few days.

If you work full-time you might be doing this already with your work extension and email. But if you’re an entrepreneur you might not think of it. Your time off is just as important. As solopreneurs we end up working more than 40 hours a week sometimes. We’re pulling long days because we’re multi-tasking work with family and other commitments. We’re also pretty focused on a quick turnaround to calls and email requests for our services. It might seem like you’re always working, and it’s not really healthy. We all need time away – but don’t want to miss that new work opportunity.

Take the time off. Sit at the beach, go for a hike, camp, relax somewhere. Just set up an auto-responder to let your clients know you are a away for a bit and will be in touch shortly.