Reposted with permission from Navitor.com  Written by Emily Roycraft 

You’ve missed a call. Maybe you stepped out of the office for a moment, or maybe you were out of town for a few days. You might have even received a call over the weekend when your business wasn’t open. Whatever the reason, you’ve got a voicemail, and one of these characters might be waiting for you! Have you met these characters on your voicemail?
The Lost Information
This person may be nervous, or they simply might be forgetful. Either way, you’re missing some important information on their call. The Lost Information often forgets the information you need to get back to them: their full name, their phone number, their order number, and even the question they called to ask in the first place! While caller ID can help, chances are you’ll need to return their call—or even do some research and guesswork to figure out whether they’re an existing customer—before you can actually help them with their request.
And you might have also met The Lost Information’s twin…
The Double-Caller
Unlike The Lost Information, you don’t have to track down the information this caller forgot—that’s what their second message is for! The Double-Caller can be very helpful because they fill in the additional information you missed in the first message. However, it’s a good idea to take notes while listening to their messages because the important details might be split between the two messages.
The Mumbler
You’re going to need to listen to this message a few times! The Mumbler doesn’t speak quite loud enough into their phone, but without a person on the other end of the line they didn’t have a chance to adjust their volume while leaving their message. As a result, you might have to listen again to catch what they are saying.
The Speedy Speaker
Like the mumbler, you’re going to need to listen to this message more than once to make sure you’ve caught anything. When you’re dealing with a Speedy Speaker, they might be perfectly clear, but they speak so quickly that you may only catch part of the important information when you listen the first time. The Speedy Speaker might also surprise you by leaving a message at normal speed but rattling off their contact information so quickly that you can barely catch it. Either way, get ready to listen a few times.
The Unintended Visitor
This person didn’t intend to leave a message—in fact, they didn’t even intend to call! The Unintended Visitor dialed you accidentally, and their voicemail message reflects it. You might hear muted conversation, clothing rustling around the pocket the phone was in, or vehicle noise. The good news, though, is that you don’t need to worry about returning this call.
The Distracted Dialer
This character in your voicemail is doing their best to leave a great message, but something keeps getting in the way. Someone might be talking to them while they try to leave the message, or they might be talking in a busy area. Whatever the reason, the Distracted Dialer is just that—distracted. As a result, like the Lost Information, some important details might be missing.
The Final Word
We all want The Final Word in our voicemail! Their messages are short, sweet, and to the point. They include all the information you need to get back to them about their question. Their messages aren’t just great to receive: they also allow you to return the call quickly and get back to your day.

The whole idea of a vacation is to kick back, relax and forget all about anything that stresses you out but, sometimes when on vacation, we find ourselves doing the opposite.

Completely switching off and avoiding your texts, calls and work-related emails can prove more difficult than you think. Sitting on a sun lounger with a cocktail in hand should be the perfect time to forget about the rest of the world but it’s also prime pondering time when you can easily begin to sweat the small stuff and worry about the pile of work awaiting your return to work.

However at Twist OP, we believe there is a time to work and a time to sit on the beach, and not have one single care in the world, and here are 4 tips we think will help you relax and enjoy your vacation.

Be prepared
Finish all the work you can before you go on vacation and then delegate everything else. It’s a good opportunity to practice your delegating skills and it will show you trust your colleagues too, which is always a positive thing. If you’re worried about one project in particular, or the person you’re delegating to, provide contact details for a colleague you trust most in case they need assistance.

Emails
Set an out of office message on your emails. Checking emails can be addictive, and often too easy if you have access to them on your phone. But if you’re checking in on them a few times a day on holiday, you’re not properly taking the break you really need. An out of office message will tell the person emailing you that you’re not available, so don’t be concerned about getting back to them. And if you add contact details for a colleague in your absence, then important queries will find their way to the right person in the end.

If you do have to check emails and there is no other way around it, then be strict with yourself. Schedule a few minutes every day or two to check in on emails and respond to the necessary ones. Be mindful of the time you choose as you don’t want to spoil your free time with your family or friends. Pick a time early in the day, even before breakfast and then dedicate the rest of your day to enjoying your time off.

Notifications
Switch off work-related notifications. Switch off email alerts and sign out of any work-related social media accounts so that you’re not bombarded with notifications throughout the day and night.
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Trust your colleagues
When they take time off, they leave the work to you.  So trust that they will do the same in your absence. And remember, if it’s something really important, they will find a way to reach you. Make the decision to enjoy yourself. You deserve this break, you’ve worked hard and you’ve saved harder. Going back to work stressed and worried won’t prove very productive so take the time off, enjoy it, and you’ll find you return to the office bright eyed, bushy tailed and ready to take on the world once again.

Can you believe that it is almost time to go Back To School? We have so many wonderful schools as customers, so we thought you might enjoy this lesson plan idea from our friends at Mead! As an added bonus, you can download a pdf for FREE at the bottom with this lesson plan should you want to print it out for your files!