We all want too wrap up our day with as least unanswered emails as possible right? Sometimes we even do “zero inbox” method and then we can sleep well. But what would happen if we get an answer from the same person, who wants to wrap up the day with empty inbox? Then we play the game - “who gives up first”. It’s even worse if we have email notifications on, because then at some point we’d need to deliberately postpone email for tomorrow. Solution might be - schedule email send for tomorrow at 8:00. Let’s drill down in more details.

Emails are not chats

Email exchange is not designed to be used as rapid messaging communication. Not in most cases at least. So - it’s okay to answer during the next day if work does not require immediate response. Even if You think it’s super crucial to reply within one hour, maybe it’s still overestimated?

Who’s working on who’s priorities

Let’s admin - most of the people are checking emails in the morning just because it feels natural and they don’t have other morning routine. So, what happens? We start working on other people’s priorities because they woke up even earlier then we did or sent an email quarter to midnight. By scheduling emails for tomorrow - we exploit that habits of checking emails, and other people will be working on our priorities, because we’ve schedule email sending already the day before.

Email sorting

In most cases - we have the newest email on the top of the list, right? So, if we’ve sent an email closer to the end of the workday or after it - chances are there will be bunch of other emails sent to the same person after our email, so it can easily be left behind or even completely forgotten. Not everyone have the “zero inbox” approach to their emails. If our email appears on recipients inbox 8:00 sharp - this narrows the gap between send time and read time.

Respect for other people evening

We should not be checking emails in the evening, but doing some other activities that fulfil us and make ready for the next day. Maybe it’s too optimistic but not far from truth, right? Checking emails is super easy nowadays and becomes one of the bad habits. By not sending that email today , but scheduling it for tomorrow morning - we give people chance not to think on reply, when they should be resting. Who knows - perhaps recipients mood in the morning will be better than in the evening, when he’s tired?