People ask me: How long should it take to write an email?

The simple answer: It depends.

Length has a lot to do with it. If it is shorter, it usually takes less time.

But there are also those emails where I spend 5x as much time editing as writing. Does that count as writing time?

I'd say yes.

Probably a better question: What's a reasonable amount of time to spend on writing an email?

I'd say 30 to 60 minutes if you are doing emails every day.

There is a basic underlying reason for this, if you're spending more than two hours on a single email, that is a gigantic time-suck. Not that you shouldn't spend time getting things better or "right," but you'll burn out if you do that every day.

I know from experience.

There is an old adage: Read a lot, think some, and write a little.

If you are reading a lot, then think about it for a bit, go ahead and write with some of the time you have left over. Then you'll have a decent way to figure out what kind of time you have.

This applies to more than just writing. Consider "time management."

The most important part of your time management is knowing how much time you have available. Knowing, not imagining.

It is wise to have a list of a bunch of things queued up so that you can eventually write about them, or not. I'm sure you're thinking about all sorts of things. Jot a few ideas down.

Writing is a byproduct of thinking, after all.

Research shows that your notebook acts somewhat like a "second brain." We can't carry around every thought in our head.

If we did carry every thought with us at all times, this may indeed be considered "insanity"—unlike the faulty definition of insanity proffered by Einstein.

Write the ideas down—take them from your brain and send them to the paper—then revisit as necessary.

I have a bunch of half-baked emails written—approximately two months worth of material.

By the way, this email was written in fits and starts, but the total time I allowed myself to "finish" it was about 40 minutes. So, there you have it.

As always,

Brian

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