According to The Washington Post’s self-reported survey of more than 1,000 white-collar workers, “we spend an average of 4.1 hours checking our work email each day.” That’s over 1,000 hours each year. The holidays are the perfect time to temporarily break up with your email inbox for a digital detox. Before you stress about crafting the perfect out of the office message, check out our sample templates. From professionally festive to holiday humor, we know you’ll be ready to copy, paste, and fully embrace the holiday season.
Hello, All our stores will be closed until the end of the week for [Christmas]. We will respond to all your inquiries once we are back on [date]. Merry Christmas! Regards [Name/signature]
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The reason I did it was that the first time I took maternity leave, I came back to thousands of irrelevant emails. It was a chore to sort through them, and finding the ones that were still relevant was like finding a needle in a haystack. And it wasn’t just a waste of *my* time – I often had to reach out to email senders only to hear that no further action was needed, so I was wasting their time too.
Apollo Technical only specializes in Engineering and IT — period. You'll be working with people who know the ins and outs of engineering and IT staffing.
I am annoyed when people send a “fergus ooo” outlook invite! Maybe that’s the (annoying imo) style for your team Fergus, but our nearest common ancestor is 3 or 4 people up, you’re not that important and I don’t care!
If your email truly is urgent and you need a response while I’m on vacation, please resend it to [email protected] and I’ll try to respond to it promptly.
I also kinda want to sit here with popcorn and read all the shenanigans that are about to roll in.
Thank you for your email. I’m currently out of the store on holidays. I will be returning on [return date].
Another (also memorialized via a TikTok) is not exactly an OOO responder but it’s a great example of unapologetic bluntness. “Baby, I’m not even here,” the woman in the says while preparing a margarita and talking about not responding to calls or emails during approved time off. “PTO? Prepare The Others. I’m a ghost.”
1.) Herzlich willkommen bei Mustermann GmbH. Unsere Telefon-Hotline ist über die Festtage nicht besetzt. Genaue Öffnungszeiten erfahren sie auf unser Website unter www.mustermann.de - Wir bedanken uns für Ihr Vertrauen und wünschen Ihnen und Ihren Lieben erholsame Feiertage und ein gutes neues Jahr.
Thank you for your message. I will be out of the office starting [start date] and returning [return date]. While I am [reason for absence], I will have limited email access.
So now this email is working overtime with the flood of enquiries, spam, well-wishes, and broken hearts.
Here’s my pet peeve: OOOs that specifically state the person “won’t have access to email.” It contributes to this pervasive idea that an employee who might technically be ABLE to check her work email while OOO better have a damn good reason why she won’t be doing so. Which calls back to the reason someone’s OOO is no one else’s business. Whether you’re OOO because you’re on your honeymoon, having your gall bladder removed, or robbing a bank, OOO should automatically imply unavailability for work stuff. Full stop.
I used to work with someone who had a message telling people she only checked her email twice a day. You pretty much needed to call her if you needed anything outside of those times. (She worked in a remote office.) I think she had read one of those books on efficiency that recommended scheduled email time. But there were problems with this: 4. My department often had to email attachments or text to illustrate our questions/concerns. And we were on deadlines. Reading a page of text over the phone was not an efficient use of anyone’s time 5. She did outreach & was often out of the office on site visits, trainings, or travel to these places, but never ever set her OOO for these, because she was “working.” However, she was effectively not available to read emails from other staff until after hours on those days.
Yes! I HATE the voicemails that are like “can you give me a call back?” Like… give me some context so you can end up on my to-do list in the right place. People who leave these voicemails automatically go on the bottom.
NOW READ: How to keep shoppers happy and secure sales in the bustling Christmas period
I am celebrating the season. I'll respond to your email when I return to work on [date]. Thank you for your patience, and I hope you and your loved ones have a joyous holiday.