Out of office planner for a calm week off and an easy return
Going on leave means a dozen small jobs: telling people, moving meetings, writing a handover, setting an auto-reply, and then a scary inbox when you are back. This prompt has your todo.is agent go through your calendar and email before you leave, build a checklist and handover note, and prepare a catch-up summary for your first morning back.
The prompt
- I am out of office from [START DATE] to [END DATE] for [REASON]. Please plan it. 1) Check my Google Calendar for meetings while I am away and list which to cancel, move or hand over to [BACKUP PERSON]. 2) Look at my Gmail from the last 2 weeks and list open threads and promises with due dates during my leave. 3) Write a handover note for my backup: open items, who to contact, where files are, what can wait. 4) Write a short out of office auto-reply that names my backup and the return date. 5) Give me a checklist for my last 2 days, by day. 6) Block the dates in my calendar as Out of office. On my first morning back at [RETURN TIME], send me a catch-up summary of what happened in my inbox and calendar. Save the handover as a Word file.
What to change
- [START DATE]: Your first day off, e.g. "Monday 3 November".
- [END DATE]: Your last day off, e.g. "Friday 14 November".
- [REASON]: Only if you want to say it, e.g. "a vacation" or "parental leave". Or write "leave".
- [BACKUP PERSON]: Who covers for you, with email, e.g. "Priya Nair, priya@company.com".
- [RETURN TIME]: e.g. "8:00 on Monday 17 November".
Example result
- Out of office: 3 to 14 November
- Backup: Priya Nair. Back on Monday 17 November.
- Meetings while you are away (9)
- • Cancel (4): weekly 1:1 with Ben (x2), design guild, coffee with Tom
- • Move to the week of 17 Nov (3): Q4 planning with Dana, Halden Foods check-in, vendor demo
- • Hand over to Priya (2): Northwind status call (6 Nov), launch go/no-go (12 Nov)
- Open items for the handover
- 1. Northwind contract: waiting for their redline. Priya can accept small wording changes; anything about price waits for you.
- 2. Launch on 12 Nov: checklist in the shared Drive folder "Launch Q4". Priya leads the go/no-go.
- 3. Invoice #318 from Pine & Field: due 10 Nov, already approved, finance pays it.
- 4. Hiring: two candidates may send availability. Priya forwards to HR.
- 5. Blog post: draft with Marta; she publishes on 7 Nov.
- 6. Can wait: pricing page ideas, team offsite planning.
- Out of office auto-reply
- Hi, thanks for your email. I am out of the office from 3 to 14 November and will reply when I am back on 17 November. For anything urgent, please contact Priya Nair at priya@company.com. Best, Elena
- Your last 2 days
- Thursday 30 Oct
- • Send the meeting changes and cancellations
- • Walk Priya through the handover (30 min)
- • Tell your top 3 clients by email
- Friday 31 Oct
- • Turn on the auto-reply in Gmail at the end of the day
- • Set your Slack status and remove work email from your phone if you want a real break
- • Update the launch checklist one last time
- On 17 November at 8:00
- You get a catch-up brief: emails that still need you, what Priya handled, and your first week's meetings.
How to do it with todo.is
- Connect Google in todo.is so your agent can see your Calendar and Gmail.
- Copy the prompt, enter your dates, your backup and when you want the catch-up brief.
- Paste it into todo.is about a week before you leave. Review the plan and the Word handover note.
- Approve the calendar changes and emails one by one. Set the auto-reply in Gmail settings with the text it wrote.
Tips for a better result
- Start a week ahead. Moving meetings and briefing a backup takes longer than writing the auto-reply.
- Tell your backup what they can decide and what must wait for you. It saves them guessing.
- Keep the auto-reply short: dates, who to contact, when you are back. No need to say where you are going.
- Book a light first morning back. Your catch-up brief plus one free hour beats diving into meetings.
out of office planner: FAQ
- What should an out of office message say? Your dates away, when you will reply, and who to contact for urgent matters, with their email. Keep it to two or three sentences.
- How do I prepare for being out of office? Check meetings during your leave, hand over open work with a short note, tell key contacts, set an auto-reply and block your calendar. This prompt does the checking and writing for you.
- Can the agent turn on my Gmail auto-reply? It writes the text for you. You switch on the vacation responder in Gmail settings yourself, which takes a minute.
- Will the agent cancel meetings without asking? No. It lists the changes and drafts the messages. It asks for your OK before changing events or sending emails.
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