How I handle emails

PSA: I’m conducting a free workshop about contracts for Singapore-based freelance coaches on 27 Feb. More details below if you’re interested!

Sorry for sending this a week late. I was caught up in Chinese New Year festivities last week. Happy CNY to you, if you celebrate! 🍊🍊

In today’s email, I want to talk about…how I handle my emails. 😂

I reply to emails in the morning

This is a personal preference. Some people I know like to use their mornings for focused work because they’ll be busy with meetings etc in the afternoon.

But I prefer to get my emails out of the way so I can spend my afternoons focusing on writing.

(I talk more about my typical day here. That write-up is close to 2 years old(!) now, but it’s still accurate.)

I try to reply to clients within the next business day

This also applies to client messages from other sources, e.g. Slack.

I make it a point to be responsive to keep projects moving and maintain client trust. This is especially since it’s so easy for apathetic freelancers to go MIA if they don’t work with clients in person and possibly even live in a different country from them.

Even if I can’t “properly” reply right away, because e.g. I need a couple of days to review the project requirements first, I’ll at least reply with a short message to acknowledge their message. And I’ll say when I can give them a fuller reply.

But if I don’t have time to send even an acknowledgement email, I’ll prioritise doing that the day after, max.

I reply at most once a day

Replying to emails is not my core business, and I’d never get any work done if I stopped to immediately reply to every email that comes in.

So, if I reply to an email and get a response within the same day, I’ll reply again the next day.

I schedule most of my emails

In other words, I don’t send my emails right away, but schedule them to be sent later.

I initially started scheduling emails so they reach my clients’ inboxes closer to the start of their morning (if the client’s time zone is many hours behind mine). And I still do this.

But now, I also schedule an email—even if it’s to send just 10 minutes later—so that I have time to cancel the send and edit my email if:

• I forgot to mention something (and so I can add it in instead of sending the client two emails in a row), or
• I want to change my phrasing

A drawback of scheduling my emails is that it seems Gmail’s “Did you forget to attach the file?” warning doesn’t activate. But this is rarely an issue since I don’t usually attach files (apart from invoices). I think I’ve sent a scheduled email without its attachment only once so far.

I automate my emails wherever possible

I rely on templated replies a lot so that I don’t have to write repetitive text from scratch every time.

I’m talking about:

• Creating templates for commonly used text—e.g. text for submitting articles—so I can insert these templates in emails with a few clicks. (I save my reply templates in Streak.)
• Using Gmail’s Smart Compose feature to autocomplete my sentences. It works really well for standard phrases like “Let me know how we should proceed” and “I hope to hear from you soon”!
• Automating entire emails, where possible. I have a Make automation that automatically emails invoices to clients when I approve the invoice in my invoicing software. It saves me so much time in writing the emails and attaching my invoices to them. *chef’s kiss* (I’ve written a tutorial for a simplified version of this automation if you’re interested!)

Questions? Comments? Reply to this email, and I’ll get back to you following the process above. 👆😜

More freelancer news

Free workshop on contracts for Singapore freelance coaches

As the title says. And, the workshop is being conducted by yours truly! ✌️

Details in the flyer above. But in a nutshell, I’ll be covering things like:

• The contracting situation for freelance coaches in Singapore, e.g. how whether you’ll have a contract, and who prepares it, depends on whether you’re being engaged by the government or the private sector
• Essential terms your contracts should have
• Where to get a free contract template

The workshop is free. It will be held on 27 Feb 2025, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm, in the Launch programme room at the National Library in Bugis.

Scan the QR code in the flyer to register. Alternatively, use this registration link.

The registration form asks for your mylibrary username, which you’ll have if you’re a library member. Go to this NLB account services page to sign up for free library membership or check your mylibrary username if you don’t remember it.

The form also asks if you’re an NTUC member. Feel free to answer “No” if you aren’t one.

I’m currently preparing the workshop’s contents, so let me know if there’s anything about contracts you want me to cover. And/or if you’ll be coming, reply to this email to let me know too 🙂

4 things to consider before starting a business

1. Are you financially and emotionally ready?
2. Why do you want to start a business?
3. Is your business idea viable and sustainable?
4. Do you want to do the work yourself or with others’ help?

​Explore these issues in this article, which interviewed some entrepreneurs for their advice and insights.

During recent Chinese New Year gatherings, I got questions about starting a business and what made me decide to offer writing services, so I thought this article was timely!