Setting up "Out of office"

A corporate job gives us the option to take sick leaves or casual leaves and not feel guilty about them. We rarely feel motivated to work when we are having a migraine headache or feeling under the weather. Nor do we feel inclined to work while we are on scheduled leave.

As solopreneurs though, we rarely give ourselves permission to set up "Out of Office", at least not without guilt.

If someone is waiting to hear from you, instead of going AWOL and affecting your reputation adversely, can you send them an "out of office" email to help them become aware of your situation? This could be a better alternative than slogging through your pain unless there is a real emergency with your work. In most cases, there isn't.

This again would take emotional labour, but it's a step in the direction of becoming a better boss to ourselves.