Freelancing Tips - Scheduling Emails 📨 ⏱️

Running my own business for 10+ years has taught me that finding ways to be more productive (and maintaining peace of mind) is important.

Here’s a simple tip, schedule your emails.

Reaching out to people when they're in the right mindset can make a big difference. 👋 📨

Learn how scheduling emails can help you handle multiple projects with peace of mind. 🧠 ☀️

When to Reach Out ?👋 📨

When is a good time for the person you are emailing or calling to receive your information?

When are people more likely to be open to new information?

Before Lunch:

In the book Thinking, Fast and Slow, author Daniel Kahneman explains how people experience mental exhaustion when they get tired, making them more likely to say "no."

One example is about judges making parole decisions. The judges were more likely to grant parole earlier in the day. As the day went on and they became more tired, they were more likely to deny parole.

For me, this means it’s better to reach out or meet with someone before lunch, when they’re more open to new ideas.

Friday:

If you look at different reports about social media traffic, you can see that Fridays are generally a good day to post. The workweek is ending, and people are more relaxed, getting ready for the weeked, you dont start a new project on a Friday?

Conclusion:

This has led me to systematically schedule all my "favor" emails for Fridays before lunch.

Whether I’m calling someone about future collaboration or asking someone to look at my portfolio, I make sure it’s on a Friday before lunch.

Handle Multiple Projects with Peace of Mind 🧠 ☀️

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and judge the future based on how you feel about the present. So when your brain is full and a client/customer calls about something weeks away, it’s easy to feel and say, “I’m really booked right now.”

One way I stay a head of this is by scheduling almost all my email responses, especially when juggling multiple projects.

Example:

After a shoot, I make it a habit to review the project the same night or the next day while it’s fresh in my mind.

As quickly as I can, I take the project from feeling “urgent” to “manageable.” This usually involves creating a first draft of the edit or sending photo charts to the client. This process frees up my mental space, much like clearing RAM on a computer.

Once I’ve done this, I schedule my respons for later, sometimes just a few hours ahead on busy days, but often a few days or even weeks later.

As soon as I’ve done this, It allows me to prioritize things like a daily workout, another urgent project, or if I then get a call from a client who wants to talk about a new project, I can approach it with peace of mind and excitement for the new opportunity.

It’s a simple strategy that offers some peace of mind. :)

Schedule Send

When someone says, "Let's talk again in two months," I immediately write an email and schedule the follow-up for two months later as soon as I end that meeting.

I think this simple feature can free up mental energy and boost productivity. What could you accomplish if you freed up some energy?

Gmail introduced this feature in April 2019, Apple added it in macOS Ventura in October 2022, and Microsoft Outlook has had it for a long time. If you haven’t tried it yet, now is the time to give it a go.

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