Try the “Buy Some Time” Reply Strategy

A common challenge for people who are trying to stop spending every working minute in the email Inbox is wondering, “How can I be responsive without reacting immediately every time someone sends me an email?”

This is a great question. As professionals, we do want people to know we care about their needs and requests, and in a competitive marketplace, it’s critical to keep our managers and clients very happy. The trick here is to understand the difference between strategically replying and fully responding.

Let’s say your boss or an important client sends you an email about an urgent issue. People usually respond to this pressure in one of two ways:

1. You drop everything in order to work on this new request as soon as possible.
2. You get stressed and try to finish up everything else quickly so you can work on the urgent request next.

The trouble with the first option is that the current priorities suffer in the face of new information. The problem with the second plan is that often we don’t get around to dealing with the request as quickly as we intend to, so we leave people hanging too long on an urgent issue. This is when they start emailing again or calling to confirm we’ve received the first email.

A third – and recommended – option is what we call the “Buy Some Time” reply strategy. It ensures you are perceived as responsive and professional, and it allows you to retain control of your time.

What your boss or client needs first and foremost is simply an acknowledgement that you have received the request and are on it. They also need an indication of when to expect the deliverable. This is quick, easy, and important to do. It also buys you precious time.

The next time you’re triaging your Inbox and this sort of request has come through, do a quick mental calculation based on your current work queue, and determine when you can realistically get back to the person with the full response, i.e. the information, document or work needed. Then send a quick message to this effect: “Thanks for your message. I’ll get to work on this and should be able to have it to you by [timeframe].”

The trick to making this strategy work for everyone is under-promising and over-delivering on the timeframe. For example, if you figure you can probably revert the answer/information/document before the end of the day, promise the information tomorrow morning.

This is smart for two reasons: First, if all goes according to plan and you’re able to get the work done today, you can deliver early and look terrific. Secondly, if your afternoon goes pear-shaped and you can’t get the work done, you still have time in the morning to get back to your boss or client on time.

Give the “Buy Some Time” reply it a try the next time you go into panic mode.