Telling people you are away
Set an automatic reply before you go away, and be certain it stops when you come back.
An out-of-office reply is a short message your mail sends back, once, to anybody who writes while you are away.
It is not only for people with jobs. If you run a club, keep the community center diary, or would rather a friend did not think you were ignoring her for two weeks, it does exactly the same job.
It sends once to each person, not once per message, so nobody gets a stream of them. And a good one has an end date, so it cannot be left on by mistake.
Key points
- Set an automatic reply that says you are away without saying where
- Give it an end date so it turns itself off
- Turn it off early, and know from the colored strip whether it is running
What to remember
- Give it an end date every time. That single choice removes the worry of leaving it on.
- An automatic reply is a note pinned to a public door. Say that you are away and when you will answer. Nothing else.
- Every mail program shows a colored strip while automatic replies are running. If you can see it, it is on.
Try this
Write the sentence you would use, now, while you are not in a hurry: "I am away until the — and will reply when I am back." Next time you go anywhere it is a thirty-second job.
Practice: Telling people you are away. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.