Hey Time Dorks,
While many people take pride in being quick to respond to messages, let’s talk about why you should take the opposite approach.
🏃♂️Something to Try
I used to believe an empty inbox was the hallmark of high productivity. Inspired by experts like David Allan of Getting Things Done fame, I made it a goal to process every single message I received.
(I even took a course that Jake taught at Google called “Gmail for Productivity.”)
However, as my career progressed, the amount of emails I received increased exponentially. And while the empty inbox (or “Inbox Zero”) strategy is based on the sound logic that if you clear your inbox regularly you won’t be distracted, it starts to break down when your incoming messages go beyond a handful of emails a day.
If your job is based on sending sales emails or resolving customer email complaints, then what I’m about to recommend is probably not for you.
But if there is work beyond “sending emails” that is important to you, yet you find yourself caught on a never-ending hamster wheel of replying, then listen in.
One tactic that can help you is Be Slow To Respond (#38).
We have a bunch of tactics to help you “Slow Your Inbox” (which we cover in The Highlight Course), but this mindset shift might be the most important.
Above all, taking control of your inbox requires a mental shift from “as fast as possible” to “as slow as you can get away with.”
While this might sound like a jerk move, it really isn’t. Hear me out.
We are hardwired as social animals to reciprocate. In real life, you respond when people talk to you. If you bump into a colleague and they ask “How did the meeting go?” you don’t dare stare straight ahead and ignore them. Of course not. It would be rude! So the default of answering right away in real life is respectful and good.
But in the digital world, when anyone can contact you anytime, this default doesn’t work. At Google, I had over 150,000 colleagues who could find my email and send me a message. That’s not to mention all of the external clients and partners. And guess what? When they send a message, it’s usually about their priorities, not yours.
By stopping what you’re doing and replying right away, you’re sending a message to them and to yourself that their request, no matter its importance, is more important than whatever you were doing at that moment.
When it’s written out, it sounds insane. Because it is!
This always-on, always-responsive Busy Bandwagon culture is driving us mad.
Studies by Gloria Mark and colleagues show that we often switch what we’re doing every few minutes, and these frequent interruptions “cause us to work faster, which causes more stress, higher frustration, time pressure, and effort.”
And while this default culture is powerful, you can overcome it by changing your mindset.
Believe in your Highlight: It is worth prioritizing over random disruption.
Believe in Laser mode: You will accomplish more with a singular focus than by ricocheting through your inbox.
And believe in other people: If their thing is really and truly urgent and important, they will track you down in person or on the phone.
Go ahead and experiment with being Slow to Respond this week and let us know how it goes.
🤖 Tech & Tools
If you have lots of requests for your time and attention, and you worry about slowing down your email response times, you might benefit from scheduling office hours.
By blocking set times each day or week for your colleagues to ask you a question or get your feedback, you can be available on your schedule without having to constantly interrupt your focus to check messages.
If you’re a Google Calendar user, you can check out the new “appointment scheduling” feature to create bookable moments in your calendar that you can share with your team.
📚 Timely Quotes
Thanks for reading, see you next week!
Connor
