How to Set Holiday Boundaries as a Virtual Assistant

Today, we are talking about all things holidays and boundaries. I am so pumped because the holidays are right around the corner, and for us virtual assistants, it is the busiest time of year!

But we also have family we have obligations too! There are parties, there's kids' stuff that we need to attend, etc. So I wanted to tell you how I take time off around the holidays, and how I prepare my clients and my schedule. 

Preparing My Business for the Holidays

Now, you know, nine times out of 10, I do not tell my clients when I'm out of the office, and I certainly don't tell them when I go on vacation.

What I do is something very, very different. I have a team behind me, that is how I have scaled my business to six figures. I have other freelancers and virtual assistants who are behind me who know my business in and out just like I do, and who I trust wholeheartedly to run my business adequately when I am unavailable.

So there are a few things that I do to prep myself, my clients, and my team for the holidays, specifically. Now, the holidays are slightly different because clients want you to take time off to an extent. And they also expect you to have time off with your family. 

Starting at the end of October in my email signature, I have out-of-office dates. My clients know that being out of the office basically means I'm not going to respond immediately and I'm not taking on new projects. I'm still checking emails, I'm still doing Voxer and Slack and all the things, but I'm not sitting there waiting like I normally would be, which I don't really do anyway, outside of the holidays.

Set a Hard Cut-off Date For Your Team 

The second thing I do is let my team know if they need something from me to be approved, so that we can keep the ball rolling, and get the clients what they need, then I need to have it by a specific date. And I give them a hard stop date for November, and a hard stop date for December. 

Block Off Your Calendar

I use Acuity for my scheduling software. So in Acuity, I block off the time so nobody can book calls. No one can book a call with me during the weeks that I have off, not even students. I'm out of the office. 

I also block that on my Gmail calendar, I want to make sure that I have that time saved for me as well, just in case I try to book myself something. Now obviously situations come up, websites break, course checkout pages drop, and emergencies happen. So that being said, I always give myself a little buffer. I wake up early and during that time, that's when I fix the problems. 

When I am working in the morning, that's when I'm checking up on things. and making sure everything is smooth. The moment my kids’ feet hit the floor I stop working. And it's that simple. 

Those are my holiday boundaries. I've never had clients disrespect them. I've never had pushback before. Everybody's been pretty understanding and very nice. But that is because of the prep I do beforehand. 

Batching Work Ahead of Time

Batch as much work as you possibly can before the holidays arrive!

If I'm doing social media or if there is an e-commerce client that is having a huge Black Friday sale, I am testing everything and making sure everything is scheduled and ready to go. 

I have three clients who are having huge Black Friday sales that kick off on Black Friday. That morning, I will wake up, even though I'm going to be desperate to hit the shops myself, I'm going to wake up, and just make sure everything's running, and we are good to go. There should be no issues. If I find an issue, I fix it right then and there, and then I let the client know. 

Communication is Key

Communication is the answer to everything. Communicate what is going on to the clients. “Hey, I checked the promo everything's running smoothly, and flawlessly, have a great sale.” “Hey, this social media is all scheduled for the rest of November, let me know if you need anything I know it's gonna be a great November month for you!”

If you are doing general admin, and that includes customer service, and it is required of you to check an email, check it in the morning. But also make sure you let your client know, this is your holiday and you will be checking email every day in the morning. Anything that comes in throughout the day, you’ll check the following morning. 

If that does not sit well with them, they're more than capable of going in and checking it themselves sometimes. But just respect your boundaries, hold fast to the boundaries you've set for yourself, you've worked too hard to have to request off and work on a holiday week or holiday weekend. 

Have It All In Writing

The last thing that I do is have everything in writing. Anytime I update a client on something, I do it all in writing. The entrepreneur is counting on us to likely run their business while they're off doing their festivities. They're reading messages, checking texts but they're probably not completely processing what we say. 

So even if I’m on a phone call with a client, I always send like a recap email or a recap text to see why a, especially during the holidays, everybody's busy, everybody's being pulled in a million directions and just putting things in writing is going to save you so much time and energy and questions and just communicating back and forth will help you tremendously. 

Now I know virtual assistants who work for entrepreneurs who demand and require a lot from them. And unfortunately, that might mean working the day before Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving. If that is you, I'm sorry that you're in that situation but this is the year that you need to establish boundaries with your clients. You are not an employee, you are an entrepreneur, you are a partner, you are a contractor. You are not required to work every single day unless it is in your contract that you will work holidays. 

You do not have to work holidays. Plain and it's simple. Right now is the time to start speaking to your clients about the time you're having off and what that entails. 

For me, yes, I am out of office. But I am available. If there's an emergency, I'm still checking emails and Slack and ASANA and all the things and I'm just not taking on new projects. That's what that means. 

No New Projects or New Client Calls

The week before Thanksgiving is my cutoff. No more tasks can be given to me or projects can be given to me past that date. I will not do them until the Monday after Thanksgiving. And then for December, Christmas, the same thing. 

The week before, that's the cut-off. I'm not taking on new projects. I don't even take new clients during this time. That's how serious I am and how intentional I am about protecting my boundaries and protecting my holidays and my space with my kids. 

I will say I've had people come to me and they want to do a new client discovery call during the in-between time of Christmas and New Year's because they have so many great ideas, and they're so pumped, and they're so excited. And I will respond to the email. “Yes, I can absolutely help you. Here's my calendar link, choose the first date available.” 

I've had pushback. “Well, that's not until January 8, can you squeeze me in any sooner?” This is your chance. This is your time to hold firm on your boundary. “I'm so sorry. My next available time, or my next available appointment is January 8.” When you start off a client relationship, giving them wiggle room, that's what they expect. Well, she did it last time, surely she'll do it again. I know her calendar says she has nothing available on Thursday, but I'm going to ask her anyway. 

Let's remember that as we move into the holiday season, we can still be excited and still have conversations. Never stop networking, especially during the end of the year. Because if you are a seasoned virtual assistant, you know, January will be booming with job opportunities. So never stop networking. 

Make sure you take time to disconnect and set firm boundaries. Let your clients know what's going on. Prepare your team and over-communicate.

Here’s to living Virtually Free!