leadership

An Ode to the Out of Office

Vacations. Holidays. The moments we seemingly build our lives around, escapes from the ordinary, underscoring what it means to depart. Proceeded by a sense of anticipation, in the days before our long-awaited time off, our bodies begin to taste the exhale, excitement building as we get ourselves situated to check out.

This might mean putting a temporary stop on the mail. Making arrangements to ensure our pets are fed. And for those in the working world, many moons ago vacation-prep was also synonymous with turning on the ultimate sign of freedom:

The out of office auto response.

Playing it Small

In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” It’s one of those easily memorable, effective, hanging-on-a-coffee-shop-wall quotes, that has become so ubiquitous that a google search for its author returns multiple results.

Its appeal, no doubt, is in the inarguable validity of its message. Yet its own introductory phrase – in a world where you can be anything – is what, to me, seems to carry additional weight at a time when hobbies can turn into side hustles, and leaving your mark is only an Instagram account or Etsy shop away.