Rethinking Your Out-of-Office Message

and reclaiming your free time

In today’s fast-paced work environment, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by constant communication and the pressure to always be available. As work culture evolves, so does the way we signal our time off. Your Out-of-Office Message, once a simple formality, is now becoming a tool for asserting boundaries and reclaiming personal time.

The Wall Street Journal has highlighted a growing trend: people are no longer just saying they’re out of the office—they’re setting clear expectations, like, “I’m off, and I won’t be checking emails.” Some even keep their out-of-office (OOO) replies active for a few days after returning, giving themselves a buffer to ease back into work.

This shift isn’t just a passing trend. It’s a reaction to the “always-on” culture, where instant responses are often expected, and work-life boundaries can blur. The lesson here? It’s time to reconsider how we approach email and the urgency we attach to it. Research shows we often overestimate how quickly others expect responses to non-urgent emails.

When crafting your Out-of-Office message, keep these best practices in mind:

– Be clear and concise: State why you’re away.
– Set expectations: Let people know when you’ll be back.
– Delegate if necessary (if possible): Include who to contact in your absence if a response is needed.

Alternatively,  you can sum it up like this: “If this is urgent, take a deep breath because few things really are.”

The concept of the email sabbatical

Danah Boyd, in a decade old Linkedin article talks about the email sabbatical in “How to Take an Email Sabbatical”.  She discusses the importance of taking a true break from work, particularly email, to rejuvenate. Boyd outlines a series of steps for managing an email sabbatical without causing frustration for colleagues or collaborators.

Key steps include planning a significant vacation of at least two weeks, communicating well in advance with collaborators, and making a public announcement about the planned time off. Boyd emphasizes the need to set up automated email responses, with filters that either delete or bounce emails, to prevent inbox overload.

While she sets up a backup email for emergencies, she stresses the importance of fully disconnecting from regular communication during the break. After returning from vacation, Boyd reaches out to core colleagues before officially announcing her return, ensuring that she catches up with urgent matters first. Although she acknowledges that some people might be upset by her absence, Boyd believes that proper preparation helps minimize issues and allows her to truly rest. Ultimately, she encourages others to consider taking a similar break, as it can lead to a more refreshed and productive return to work.

This concept rings true for so many of our members at The Works.  When you are your company and your company is you, there is often nobody to delegate duties to while you are away.  Often, when you’re an employee of a larger company, there are protocols in place to address your absence.  Something like this, “Hi this is John Doe, I’ll be out of the office until January 20th, if this is an urgent call, please ring my colleague Jane Doe at extension 126″.

Letting go isn’t always easy

When you work in mission critical field, how do you wipe your head clean of “What if something really bad is happening right now and I’m unreachable?”  I’m talking about a client’s network going down (assuming you’re in IT), and you are not available.  Or an attorney’s client has been arrested, and they can’t be reached.  That’s some real stress, and a potential loss of clients.  Knowing that you may be fired by a client because you took some time away to recharge……..that’s a tough one. If this is a concern for you, don’t read this Forbes article titled “Today’s Customer Has A Need For Speed”.

A compromise may be in order

In regard to a compromise, I’m talking about delegating to someone. Who is this someone? A trusted partner,  someone in the same business as you that can lend some assistance in your absence,  and administrative assistant, a phone service, an independent paralegal (yes, that’s a thing).  Then your instructions apply to this someone. “Do what you can to assist while I’m away”…….which sometimes means “buy me some time until I return”.  Then you return the the favor when your someone needs some time away. Finding this person isn’t always easy, but when you do find them, it can be a huge relief.

Your Out-of-Office Message you set during your time away says a lot about how you manage your boundaries. What does yours say about you?  I can better serve you after I’ve had time away to recharge? Or the inverse, my time is your time…..and I’m always available.

Here are some sample Out-of-Office-Messages.

Are you already doing something like the Email Sabbatical? Or does the thought of making yourself unavailable cause enough stress that you just can’t do it?