Reality Upgrade

Gmail recently added a feature called “Undo Send”, which actually holds your email for 5 seconds before it sends it. In the mean time, you can press the “Undo” button, and potentially save yourself some embarassment.

As it turns out, 5 seconds is just long enough for most people to realize that they made a mistake, and hit the Undo button.

Wouldn’t it be great if we had a Undo Send button in real life?

Well, maybe we do. All you have to do is wait five seconds to respond to something, especially if you are upset. In the typical conversation, a five second pause is just that, a pause. It won’t seem strange to the person you’re talking to, and it might just prevent you from telling your boss where to shove it.

After all, it might feel good to vent your feelings at the person in front of you, but is it really productive?

It is much better to give yourself a moment to pause and reflect on the outcome of what you are going to say. After all, the outcome is what you are looking for, not the words themselves. If yelling at someone will accomplish your goal, so be it, but most of the time there is a better way to get what you want in the long term.

So, the next time you are about to have verbal diarrhea, take 5 and think about what you are really trying to accomplish. Maybe there is a better way.