t’s the week before Thanksgiving. Clients are waiting on things. Something launches in December. Your feed is already full of countdown timers for sales you haven’t decided whether to run. And somewhere underneath all of it, you’re telling yourself you’ll figure out how to rest once things calm down.
They won’t calm down. That’s the turn nobody wants to hear.
If the thought of being offline for a few days makes your stomach drop, that’s not dedication. That’s a sign something in how you’ve built this isn’t working. Here’s how to actually step away this week, what to say to your clients, and why doing it might be the smartest business move you make all season.
Why Can’t You Take Time Off From Your Business?
Most founders can’t step away because they’ve built a business that runs on constant availability instead of one that runs on systems. If checking in every hour is required, you don’t have a business with freedom. You have a job with no days off.
I’ve been there. I’ve checked email on Thanksgiving morning. I’ve taken client calls with the turkey in the oven, telling myself that being reachable at all times was what made me professional.
Except it isn’t. When your business can’t function without you checking in constantly, that’s not commitment. That’s a structural problem. We’ve normalized this so completely that rest starts to feel like something you have to earn, like taking four days away means you’re not serious about what you’re building.
So ask yourself what you’re actually building this for. If the honest answer is to be consistently stressed and available, that’s not a business. That’s your old job with more hours and no benefits.
What Do You Actually Do Before You Step Away?
Send your clients one clear message, turn on your autoresponder, settle any sale you’ve planned, and decide in advance what counts as a real emergency. All four happen before your last working day, not after you’re already gone.
Send Your Clients One Clear Message
This sets the boundary before anyone has a chance to test it. It doesn’t need an explanation or an apology, just the facts.
What that looks like:
- Name the days you’re out and the exact day you’re back
- Give one cutoff for anything urgent: your last working day
- Skip the long justification for why you deserve the time off
Something like: “I’m taking Thanksgiving week to be with my family, back December 2nd. If you need anything urgent, reach out by [your last working day].” That’s it. You’re setting a boundary, not asking for permission.
Turn On the Autoresponder, Then Actually Follow Through
The boundary only works if you honor it yourself. Turning the autoresponder on and then answering emails anyway teaches people it was never a real boundary.
What that looks like:
- Switch it on before you close your laptop, not the morning after
- Put the phone somewhere you won’t glance at it out of habit
- Stay off email for the entire window you announced
Settle the Sale You Already Planned
If you’ve got a holiday sale on the calendar and it’s already making you dread the week, that’s information.
What that looks like:
- Ask yourself one real question: do I actually want to run this? Not should I, not what everyone else is doing
- If yes, automate everything now so it runs without you
- If no, cancel it, send one short email explaining why, and move on
Either answer is fine. Running a sale out of obligation while you’re supposed to be off is how the time away disappears before it starts.
Decide What Actually Counts as an Emergency
If you don’t define this ahead of time, everything that lands in your inbox will feel urgent, because you haven’t given yourself permission to sort it.
What that looks like:
- Website completely down: yes, that’s real
- A client’s question about a revision: no, it can wait until the next business day
- Write the short list now, so you’re not deciding in the moment
Most things that feel urgent can wait a few days. And if you’re part of a community of people doing similar work, they can usually handle the genuinely urgent stuff while you’re out. That’s a lot of what happens inside coCreator Society: when someone needs to step away, the community is there to hold it.
Why Does Stepping Away Actually Make You Better at Your Business?
Your best ideas rarely show up while you’re forcing productivity at your desk. They show up in the shower, on a drive, on a walk with a friend, in a completely unrelated conversation, because your brain finally has room to process instead of just react.
I’ve had more real breakthroughs while cooking dinner than I’ve ever had staring at my computer willing something brilliant to happen. That’s not an accident. A rested mind makes better decisions than a panicked one, every time.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday make this harder, not easier. Your inbox turns into a war zone of “24 hours only” and “last chance,” your feed becomes nothing but discount codes, and there’s a steady drumbeat that says if you’re not participating, you’re falling behind. I’m not doing a Black Friday sale, not doing Cyber Monday, none of it this year, for reasons I get into in the next episode on skipping Black Friday.
For today, just sit with this: what if being present is worth more than being productive? What if the smartest move you make all season is stepping away and coming back clear, instead of grinding through the chaos exhausted?
How Do You Get Past the Guilt of Taking Time Off?
Stop treating constant availability as proof that you’re serious about your business. It isn’t. It just makes you tired and resentful.
We’ve been taught that our worth equals our productivity, that never taking time off makes us more professional, that always being reachable makes us more successful. None of that is true. It just makes the exhaustion feel earned instead of optional.
My kids are almost grown. Both of them are getting ready to fly the nest, and these might be some of our last Thanksgivings together under one roof. I don’t want them looking back and remembering that mom was always in her office. I want them to remember that I built something that let me show up for the ordinary moments too: the all-day cooking, the games of Cards Against Humanity that go until we’re crying laughing, decorating the tree, the ridiculous conversations that happen over dinner.
Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday since I was a kid, because it was my Pappy’s favorite day of the year, and he was my favorite person. Every year he showed up the same way: bib already on, no pretense, just joy. He passed away on Thanksgiving morning fifteen years ago, and for a couple of years after, the day felt too heavy to show up for the way I used to.
What eventually shifted it was realizing the most meaningful way to honor him wasn’t to treat the day like something fragile. It was to step into it the way he always did: bib on, fully present, choosing joy on purpose. That’s what this week is really about for me, and it’s a lot of what changed once I stopped trying to carry the whole business alone.
If you’ve tried the bath, the walk, and the reset and you’re still running on empty, why self-care doesn’t work for founders is worth reading next. The topical fixes were never going to fix a structural problem.
What You’re Building This For
You didn’t start this business so you could be consistently stressed and available. You built it so it could serve your life instead of consuming it, and a few days away is how you actually find out whether it does.
This Thanksgiving, I’m choosing presence over hustle. My people, my food, my phone in a drawer, that bib-on energy my Pappy taught me without ever meaning to teach me anything. Give yourself the same gift this season. Take the time. Make the food. Put the phone away. Be there. These moments won’t wait for you to earn them.
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More Like This
Listen: The Hidden Cost of the Solo Grind (And Why It’s Keeping You Stuck). For when you’d love a week off but everything still runs through you.
Listen: Why Self-Care Doesn’t Work for Founders (And What Actually Does). For the exhaustion a bath and a walk never actually touch.
Listen: Why I’m Not Doing a Black Friday Sale (And Why You Might Want to Skip It Too). The sale-season pressure this episode’s guilt is tangled up with, and how to decide for yourself.
Keep Going
coCreator Society is where community builders and membership founders work through this together, with the templates, the walkthroughs, and people who are one step ahead of you. Join coCreator Society
If you would rather not do this part alone, Rachel and the team build, migrate, and run communities for founders who need it done properly the first time. Talk to the team
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