Are you taking time off for the holidays? If so, don’t forget to set an out of office message.

With so many holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, and Festivus, December is a time when people take a few days off from work. Keep in mind that we all don’t take the same days off.

• Some people celebrate Christmas, others don’t.

• Some get two full weeks off, while others just get Christmas and New Years Day.

• Many don’t take any time off at all.

When you are out of the office, it is important to set appropriate expectations about when you might return a phone call or email. Otherwise, someone might anxiously wait for your response and even think a little less of you when they don't hear back.

Here’s how to set a good out of office message.

What makes a good out of office message?

Out of office messages should have three key elements:

• Inform the person you are not responding for a period of time

• Tell the person when you will resume normal communication

• Provide an alternative contact should the person have an urgent need

For out of office emails, it’s helpful to put “Out of Office” in the subject line. Here’s an example of an out of office email:

Notice I left my own phone number as the alternative contact. It gives people a way to reach me if they really need to, but they’ll know they’re contacting me while I’m on vacation. That’s usually an effective deterrent for all but the most urgent contacts.

What communication channels need an out of office message?

Email is essential. It’s where most of us get the bulk of our business communication, so it’s important to have an email out of office message at a minimum.

An out of office message sets clear expectations that you will not be responding as quickly as you normally would. So whether you set out of office messages on other channels depends on how people normally contact you.

Set up out of office messages for phone, MS Teams, or Slack if you expect a lot of people will try to reach you in any of those channels. When in doubt, set a message anyway.

A phone out of office is as simple as changing your voice message. Teams allows you to set a status message when people contact you. Slack recommends updating your custom status to signal you are out of office.

Text is more difficult. If you have a work-only phone, you can put your phone in do-not-disturb mode and set an auto reply. It’s tough to do if you use the same phone for work and personal reasons.

Social media is also tricky. I’ll sometimes pin a tweet that says I’m out of the office, but people don’t realistically look at your profile before tagging you. So I usually just respond to social media messages when I’m back to work.

How to stop checking messages on vacation

Many people feel compelled to keep checking messages while on vacation. There are a few easy fixes to this problem, but it does take a bit of discipline.

Start by alerting your key contacts a week in advance. Let them know when you’ll be out of the office, and ask them to touch base with anything urgent before then.

Next, don’t respond while on vacation.

You’ve set an out of office message for a reason. It sets a clear expectation that you won’t be responding. So if you start responding anyway, you’ve just changed the expectation and made it okay for people to contact you.

I won’t lie. When I’m on vacation, but able to check messages, I still check at least once daily. I quickly scan messages for anything urgent and only respond when absolutely necessary.

Don’t forget to turn out of office off!

Be sure to turn off your out of office messages when you get back to the office.

It’s mildly embarrassing for people to email you on February 1 and get a message that says, “I’m out of the office until January 1.” Don’t be that person.