Out Of Office Assistant

One of the invaluable tools that Microsoft provides is Outlook's Out Of Office Assistant (OOOA for short). With a couple of clicks and a brief message you can let your contacts know that you won't be responding to their emails for the next few days, weeks or indeed ever.

Email overload has become a modern woe. From the 'just for information' emails from the nervy underling; through the backside-covering 'you can't say I didn't tell you' email from a peer to the 'just wasted two-minutes of my life reading that' emails from your boss its become less of an enabling tool and more of a restriction on how much real work you can get through.

The OOOA has another use here that can make your day to day life easier. Most people are happy to 'extend' their away time by a few hours so that they can deal with the unprecedented backlog of email which invariably builds up when you've had a few days off. So why not allocate yourself some email free days with OOOA and allow yourself to spend more time working? Its easy, takes little effort and, together with an efficient voicemail system, effectively frees your time for working.

Think of it as a personal 'productivity boost' button, but use it wisely and remember to keep a low profile when you're claiming to be away!