Last week we learned how to let people know that you’ll be vacationing in some tropical paradise while they’re working. This week we’ll answer the questions, how do I send an email even if I’m not at my computer.

For years, I’ve wished Gmail had a ‘send later’ option so I could schedule a time for the message to be sent. Thanks to Katherine Axelsen, I now have the feature because she pointed me towards a great little plug-in for Gmail. The plug-in is called “Boomerang for Gmail” and it can be used with Chrome, Firefox, and Safari browsers. It is found here: http://www.boomeranggmail.com/. Just download and install. To see the changes, you’ll need to refresh Gmail if you already have it open. The plug-in adds the “Send Later” option while composing messages and the ability to manage your scheduled messages by using the Boomerang link added to the top right of Gmail.

To use the scheduling feature, simply compose your email as you usually would and then instead of clicking “Send,” to the right of it choose “Send Later” and then choose the date and time to send your email. The first time you use the plug-in, Gmail will ask you if you wish to allow Boomerang’s website to have access to your account (I suggest you consider whether you want another website/company to have the ability to send emails as you).

Have you read this far and still can’t think of a time when you’d use an extension like this? Well, here are two examples. I send out a bi-weekly newsletter on Sundays to my friends and family back home. Sometimes I write it in advance but forget to send it on time. This would save me from forgetting. Second, as Katherine suggested, you can use this to apply for Language refresher. You can set it up to send the moment you’re able to send them.