Making Your Holidays a Bit More Sane

Well, it’s that time of year…. When everyone has a lot to juggle between work and all the events and responsibilities (and kids home from school … again) that surround Christmas and New Year’s, right after being off for Thanksgiving and working through budget season! The holidays are fun, but for a lot of us, the stress of managing our personal lives and communities at this time of year can be so off the charts we feel as if we’d just rather work. All that time we spend with family and friends just isn’t worth the additional work we face when we get back to our desks. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can beat that stress (or, most of it anyway) by planning ahead for our time off, as well as adjusting our mindset to allow us the time off.

Communicate:

Let your Boards know when you will be unavailable.?Email (as opposed to a phone call, there’s an electronic trail) your Board presidents know the actual days you will be off as soon as you can. If you have a covering manager or assistant, give them their name and contact information.

Communities, too. Today - put it right on the bottom of your email signature: “I will be out of the office December 23 – 27 and December 30 – Jan 4.” Also put the information in the newsletter (if there is one coming out) and on the communities'?websites, as well (I do know that some of you are doing this now… Good work!).

Don’t forget your vendors! Let them know your schedule as well – check?if there’s anything they need from?you before you go.

Set your auto-response to give folks maximum information and self-help. Today, we are usually a click or two away from learning how to solve our own problems – whether it’s how to fix the washing machine or take care of the rose bushes. Our residents are no different. Why not give them the information they need to solve their problems while we’re taking time off? For template auto-responses (I did the work for you, just edit as is appropriate), go here.

Plan ahead:

How many days will you be off, and what would you normally be doing on those days? Start working some of those tasks into your days now. Have to prep and RFP due on January 10? Annual Meeting notices to go out January 20? Whatever it is, start today. Even 15 minutes, daily, focused on these tasks (and others) will relieve your stress level while you’re off.

Just say no:

What I really mean is not now. Many times, Boards will try to get you to do “just one more thing” before your time off. Unless it’s truly urgent, say no, and schedule it for the following month. Remember, their emergency isn’t yours unless it is REAL and emergency.

Change your mindset:

It’s ok for you to have TIME OFF.?If you’re like most community managers; e.g., good Type A personalities… You find it difficult to take hard?earned time off. Always checking email and worrying about what is happening if you’re not there to head off the impending disaster you’re sure is about to happen??STOP IT! There is no sense at all in?worrying about what *might* happen – you can’t control events any more than you can control the weather. Remember, your on call staff will handle any emergencies with the best skill available until?you return, then?you can handle the details. If you prepared, as I have suggested, you can relax, have some eggnog and?enjoy this precious time with friends and family.

Merry Christmas everyone!

c. 2021 Julie Adamen, Adamen Inc. all rights reserved