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How to pretend you’re always working with email

I like to write and respond to emails at 1:00 am.

However, you don’t want to receive an email from me at 1:00 am. If you do receive an email from me, there’s a higher chance you’ll miss it. But for me, writing an email at 1:00 am makes great use of my time. I batch all of my email writing together to leave the day to focus on making.

One of the things I’ve realized is that the time someone receives an email affects whether or not they respond. So, how do you resolve the difference between personal efficiency and timing?

My solution: Separate the writing of the email and the sending of the email. I’ve been using Boomerang for Gmail to schedule sending my email. When I write an email, I hit “Send Later” and I usually click “Tomorrow Morning”.

Boomerang Send Later

Now, I can write my emails at 1:00 am and recipients receive them the next morning when they arrive at the office. I use this primarily for meeting or phone call follow ups. I try to write the follow up when it’s fresh in my mind, but send it when enough time has passed that our conversation isn’t fresh in their mind.

Some clever ways to use email scheduling:

  • Send a follow up email to a customer.
  • Send an email to your boss at 3 am to make it seem like you’re working late.
  • Delay time-sensitive information to be sent to multiple people at the same time