You take a risk every time you sign bank documentation without reading it (e.g., when taking a bank loan). Yet, it makes sense because we have limited time and attention, and we can’t be reading everything.
But by responding to every email and WhatsApp with alacrity, don’t we act as if we have unlimited time and attention? In fact, a delayed WhatsApp reply is taken as a snub. Why?
Your time is your time. Nobody has any claim over it.
Prompt response made sense 30 years ago, when we were lucky to receive one postal mail a day. Today, with dozens/hundreds of emails we get daily, your time is getting crushed.
So be lazy in checking WhatsApp. Tell your friends to call if there is something really urgent (hint: nobody will call you). Auto-organize your emails into category-wise folders, and respond to them in your own sweet time.
There is no rush. Slow down. Give yourself some mental space. Stop this non-stop frantic activity.
Be lazy in emailing/WhatsApp. Be intensely active on your goals. Do keep your bosses and colleagues in the loop. Despite that, if someone gets pissed, so be it.
This is one place where you SHOULD be selfish.
– Rajan