We prefer holiday OOO time to feel like this: The scent of freshly baked pie evokes nostalgia and the essence of holiday cheer. Friends, families, and loved ones gather around the kitchen for Thanksgiving and in living rooms for Christmas, catching up after months (maybe years) of only phone calls. Homes, streets, and restaurants twinkle with the soft glow of white fairy lights and multi-colored strings of bulbs in various sizes. A wood-burning fire crackles as snowflakes gently fall to the ground. “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams plays in the background.
And not like this: All of the above remains true, but you can’t enjoy it because your phone buzzes in the corner with Slack notifications. Emails come in left and right; you ignore them, but you can’t help but wonder if it’s important. When you get a free moment to yourself, you grab your phone and peek at your inbox like a young child spying on Santa Claus, only to realize you forgot to turn your OOO auto-responder on, and now your team assumes you’re attending a meeting tomorrow that you wouldn’t have known existed had you not looked.
You could live without the latter, couldn’t you? That’s why it’s essential to set your OOO responder across all your tools — Slack, Teams, Gmail, Outlook, Asana, etc. Make this the final item on your to-do list before you head out. And to make your life easier, we have a few OOO messages you can quickly copy and paste.
Why you should set your OOO this holiday season
We don’t want you to disrupt your holiday plans with an easily preventable action unintentionally. But setting your OOO isn’t just a benefit to you; it also helps your team. If you’re known to slip out of the office without setting an auto-response message, here’s why you should reconsider:
1. They allow you to tune work out to be present during the holidays.
By setting an OOO, you can enjoy your holiday plans (or the fact that you have no plans and want to rejuvenate) without the stress of pings, dings, and other work-related reminders. Remember, no matter what you have planned and who you hope to see, you only get so many holiday seasons in your lifetime. You, and your loved ones, deserve to enjoy them wholeheartedly.
2. They help manage expectations and foster better communication across teams.
Nobody likes to work with the person who will *maybe* show up at the meeting but didn’t respond to the invite or let anyone know whether they would be there. An OOO response lets colleagues, clients, and collaborators know when to expect a reply or follow-up. Don’t be a Grinch and cause frustration.
3. No one can or will protect your time like you can.
If you don’t set boundaries around your time off (and you always respond to email threads and chats while you’re out of the office), you are setting the expectation that you work while you’re out. Period. And once you let these boundaries slip, it’s much harder to reestablish them. Get ahead of this before The Ghost of Christmas Past visits and shows you that you went wrong by not protecting your time.
3 festive auto-responses for your holiday plans
Let’s set your OOO so you can head on your merry way! Here are three holiday OOO templates you can use (customize as you wish):
Subject: Out of Office for Turkey Time
Hi there! I’m out for Thanksgiving, likely in a mashed potato coma and dodging awkward family questions. I’ll get back to you after [Return Date]. Happy Thanksgiving!
Subject: You caught me in holiday mode
Thanks for reaching out! I’m currently away, likely sipping hot cocoa and fighting off relatives for the last latke. I’ll be back in the office on [Return Date].
If your message can wait, I’ll get back to you post-holiday. If it’s urgent, check with [Backup Contact].
Subject: Time off for family festivities
Thanks for your note! I’m in the thick of channeling my inner Santa while the elves are out of school. For sanity’s sake I’ll be clearing my inbox when I’m back on [Return Date], so if your message is important please re-send then. Cheers!
About the author
Alyssa Towns has written productivity and time management content for Clockwise for several years. Early in her career, she dove into time management strategies to effectively manage her workday calendar and 10+ C-Suite officers' calendars across various organizations. She uses her training in change management to write time management, the future of work, and career content that helps people change their behaviors and habits. In addition, she writes about artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology for G2's Learn Hub. When she isn't writing, Alyssa enjoys trying new restaurants with her husband, playing with her Bengal cats, adventuring outdoors, or reading a book from her TBR list.
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