Over the years, I’ve coached or trained hundreds of professionals to write clear, purposeful emails that save time. So I’m always pleasantly surprised when I discover a new approach, or a fresh perspective on an old one. Which brings me to Cal Newport’s time-saving email tips he shares in his book, Deep Work.
In his book , Newport describes how emailing strategically to eliminate long back-and-forth message threads helps create time for undistracted effort on cognitively demanding tasks (the so-called “deep work.”) Here’s a quick look.
Too often, we send or receive vague emails before whatever issue or need being discussed is closed. Here is one example:
Vague: “Do you have any input on the proposal?”
This seemingly easy, casual request will likely generate in your audience a number of questions. For example: What kind of input? How much detail do I need to get into? How soon do I need to reply?
The following revision anticipates these questions and answers them in advance, enabling the project loop to be closed efficiently:
“Can you review the Materials section (pages 2–3) for accuracy? I’d appreciate your input by Thursday so we can submit by Friday.”
This approach also works when replying to someone else’s email. Consider how to handle this message:
“It was great to meet you last week. I’d love to follow up on some of those issues we discussed. Do you want to grab coffee?”
Newport suggests a detailed response like this: “I’d love to grab coffee. Let’s meet at the Starbucks on 100 Main St. Below I list two dates and times when I’m free. Please choose your preferred one. I’ll consider your reply confirmation of the meeting and send you a calendar invite. If neither of these work, give me quick call and we’ll hash out a time that works. Looking forward to it.”
It may take a few extra minutes to compose a reply like this one, but once sent, you can bet that the resulting follow-up will be minimized and both parties will be less bothered a game of email “ping-pong,” meaning more time available for “deep work.” I’ve already begun incorporating this strategy as I navigate my daily inbox!