If you find yourself sitting at your desk, getting ready to write what you consider to be a “high-stakes” email, be sure to give yourself an exit strategy.
We’ve all been there
Sitting down at the laptop to write an email to a client, promote a webinar on social, write a long-overdue referral or wrap up your home page
A task that should only take a few minutes
But also runs the risk of taking hours
Including asking Claude for the first draft
See if this helps:
Before you ever tap a key:
Tell yourself
No matter what
That if/when you get stuck
To STOP typing
And START talking
Out loud or to yourself
And here’s why:
Writing too long can lead to overthinking
And digging
And digging
And digging
Using the same voice
That’s keeping you stuck.
Stepping away
On the other hand
Allows you to interrupt your train of thought
Rather rudely and abruptly
With any voice you want
Your therapist
Your favorite aunt
A mentor
The comedian you just watched on Youtube
Any or all of whom
Will do your bidding
And tell you what to say
And how long you have to say it:
You’ve got 5 minutes, my friend.
No worries.
What you have is good enough.
And because I’m your friend
(Or Eddie Murphy, I s’pose)
I’m going to insist
At the end of those 5 minutes
You hit send.
I’m here
Kevin
P.S. This conjuring up voices is a type of “mind muscle” that you can train to pop off anytime you please.