this is the beginning of your direct message history with person you're messaging.
today
Y
youToday at 11:02 AM
hey
Y
youToday at 11:26 AM
can i ask you something
P
person you're messagingToday at 11:27 AM
sure
Y
youToday at 11:43 AM
do you know if the project deadline got moved
P
person you're messagingToday at 11:44 AM
yeah it's friday now
😵 1
what happened
41 minutes to answer a yes/no question. you sent 3 messages before getting to the actual thing. they had to sit half-available the whole time with no idea what was coming.
the same question, done right
Y
youToday at 11:02 AM
hey, do you know if the project deadline got moved? saw someone mention it but can't find the message
P
person you're messagingToday at 11:03 AM
yeah friday now, it got posted in #general
👋 1
what happened
answered in 1 minute. same greeting, same question, just in one message. they can answer when they see it without doing two useless round trips first.
another one
Y
youToday at 2:31 PM
are you busy
bad
"are you busy" commits them to something unknown. busy for what? how long? they either say yes and feel guilty, or say no and get roped into something they didn't agree to. just ask the thing.
Y
youToday at 2:31 PM
not urgent but when you get a sec, can you look over the PR i just pushed? just want a second pair of eyes on the auth stuff
good
says it's not urgent upfront. says what and why. they can get to it when they're actually free, no guilt, no ambiguity.
one more
Y
youToday at 4:15 PM
yo wsp
P
person you're messagingToday at 4:28 PM
nm u
Y
youToday at 4:52 PM
do you still have the figma link for the landing page redesign
what happened
37 minutes and 3 messages to ask for a link. the opener told them nothing so they had to respond and wait. classic.
Y
youToday at 4:15 PM
yo, do you still have the figma link for the landing page redesign? can't find it in my bookmarks
good
still casual. still sounds like you. just has the actual thing in it so they can answer when they see it.
the point
01
just say the thing
lead with what you need. the greeting can be in the same message. "hey, can you..." is fine. "hey" by itself is not.
02
give enough context
the other person shouldn't need a follow-up to understand what you want. include what, why, and how urgent.
03
say if it's not urgent
"no rush" or "whenever" takes 2 extra words and completely changes how the other person responds.
04
don't ask to ask
"can i ask you something?" is just a slower version of asking. skip it.
shareable. no tracking. send it to whoever needs it.