Rethinking out-of-office emails

A few years ago, I set my out-of-office auto-response to this:

Hello. Thank you for this email. I am out of the office for two weeks, and may not see this email. My inbox has been set to archive emails while I'm away so I can start with an empty inbox by Nov. 1 when I return. Will you please resend it after November 4, if it requires my attention? Otherwise, my colleagues [redacted] and [redacted] are eager to sort this with you. Please reach out to them. If it truly can't wait (or if personal), send to interruptyourbreak@[redacted].

I got only two emails on the 'interrupt your break' address. One was from an amazing mentor who thought the email address was interesting and we laughed about it.

This message applies whether I was away for two weeks or two months. Or two years - if I ever do that.

My rationale for auto-archiving all emails during the time I was away was simple. It didn't feel productive to spend the first few days after getting back from a break digging into piles of unread emails that had accumulated for months because I was taking a break. It sends the wrong message to the brain. It screams 'when you take a break, you are deferring work to be done.' And that message is far from the truth.

Rather, it's more useful to use the clarity gained during the break for other things that can move the needle. Not piles of emails.

This approach doesn't work all the time. It may not be applicable for your unique situation or your organisation. But it's worth giving a thought instead of applying the default 'ooo' setting.