Your Out of Office Checklist

First things first, if you aren’t signed up for Base, do so here!

You can also join our Facebook Group of over 2K assistants.

Requesting/Confirming the Time off

✔️ Request your time off as far in advance as possible. Instead of waiting for a 1:1 meeting, if you feel comfortable, you can request it via Base Decision Stream. 

✔️ Once approved, put time off on your calendar, your exec’s, and any relevant team calendars.

Leading Up to Your Time Off

✔️ ASAP after your time off is scheduled: Reschedule or cancel any meetings during your time off (bonus tip: maybe even consider clearing the day you return, to give yourself time to settle back in and get organized if it’s after a longer period of time)

✔️ ASAP: If you work on a team of assistants, or if there are others who you collaborate with frequently, get together with them to delegate what you can while you’re out. You can even share your workspaces in Base with other assistants if you have a team plan, eliminating the need for a ton of prep.

✔️ A week before you’re OOO: In your daily digest (briefly, recap, etc.), include a note to let your exec know you’re prepping for being out and that they’ll get a full rundown of everything they need to know so they know what to expect during your absence:

• Example note: "A reminder that I’ll be OOO [dates]. I’m prepping for it by [include what you’re doing - pre-drafting emails, confirming all outstanding calendar holds, completing projects, etc.]. Keep an eye out for a special digest before I leave with everything you’ll need while I’m out."
• Bonus: Include a Base Decision Stream asking if there is anything they have questions about/need you to prioritize before you leave:

✔️ 1-2 days before you’re OOO: Send a: “While I’m out” digest (example here; and you can find the template in Digest Templates under "Inspiration") with notes on:

• • Pending items
  • Who they can ask or where they can check if they really need a status update
  • Your Base Inbox alias [go to your Inbox, settings, Inbox, copy alias], so they can email/forward you tasks while you’re out seamlessly!
  • A list of everything you took care of in advance, perhaps including:
    • Context or research for their meetings while you’re out
    • Email drafts for their meetings while you’re out (you can write these in advance and snooze them to show up at the appropriate time, or include the draft in meeting prep)
    • Reminders you’ve set
    • Any scheduled Decision Streams for them to expect (any weekly questions you send them, for example.)
  • Create and save a canned response for your exec for non-urgent scheduling needs, like:
    • "My assistant, [name], is currently OOO and will reach out to schedule this upon her/his/their return [MM.DD]"
  • You can also share your preferences for emergency communications while you’re out, if you’re okay being texted for emergencies, or if you’ll be unreachable.

✔️ Pro tip: Schedule Decision Stream questions for while you're out: While scheduling digests for while you’re out might not make sense as things may change, we encourage you to still schedule your regular weekly Decision Stream questions on goal progress (our free 30-Day Challenge is great for this), as well as schedule questions for your executive to answer about the status or followup needed from items while you were out. Then when you get back, you already have those answers and can hit the ground running.

Here's an example:

If you're new to Decision Stream, this short video outlines the several ways our users leverage it to improve communication with their executive(s):

Right Before You Go:

✔️ Set up your OOO responder for email (consider setting it to turn off the day AFTER you return, so you have a day to organize everything when you get back!)

✔️ Set your status on any messenger (Slack, MS Teams, etc) to “OOO until [MM.DD]” Turn off notifications!

✔️ Delete/hide work mail and messenger apps from your phone, and quit them on your computer to truly unplug!

When You Get Back

✔️ Take a deep breath. Having a pile of things to handle upon your return is to be expected. You will get to it all. You can do this. Put on this playlist, and get to it!

✔️ Thank your past self for keeping your calendar clear today, and your OOO on until tomorrow!

✔️ Review Base Decision Stream answers from your exec about what you missed, what needs followup, etc.

✔️ Touch base with anyone you delegated to about any updates you need.

✔️ Include a brief note in your digest about the status of your catching up. An example is, "Most pending meetings from while I was out have been scheduled, waiting on [xxx], and any status updates."

⭐Additional Resources:

• Here’s a case study where one of our users shares how she put 4+ hours back into her work week with Base Digest, and what she’s able to focus on with that freed-up time.
• Base Resources page, full of free professional development, job seeking, and goal-setting resources.