Cognition #33: Communicate less with clients

How to send more messages to your crush and less to your clients

Time is important to me.

In fact, I spend only a little time on freelancing, content, and everything that generates money; which is why it becomes extremely crucial to manage my time efficiently.

Ever since I became conscious of this, I’ve tried and experimented with methods that could save my time and keep my FLOW intact.

and then…

“I realized how messages (back-and-forth communication) is disturbing my flow and schedule. I was not in charge of my time any more.”

These are client messages I couldn’t avoid. It started to get to my nerve.

But But:

So I started doing this:
Allocated slots, Sent bulk messages.

Oftentimes, the problem looked like:

• I send them a message

• They respond after an hour

• I message them immediately (or after some time)

• and they follow up with a few more questions that I have to answer

• Even worse, all this happens when I am working on something else, disturbing my FLOW

Solution:

I started sending bulk messages. Unfortunately, I can’t share screenshots with you, but the messages looked like this:

I send a message like this to all my clients on a Monday Morning, and I DON’T CHECK BACK.

Ok, let me rephrase that.

I CHECK BACK ONLY AT MY SCHEDULED TIME.

This is what I mean:

Step 1: I allocate time to share all the updates with my client (say Monday, 10 am.)

Step 2: I go on with other stuff (say writing Vikra’s Café, working on another client, and watching an anime episode), unbothered about what and when clients respond.

Step 3: I return to my clients’ messages (say Monday, 5 pm.) By this time, the client responds to all the updates and asks questions, if any.

Step 4: I can give solid undivided attention for ~15 minutes, responding and noting down actions for later.

Step 5: I repeat the process.

As a result,

• I am not disturbed by edits

• My mood is not affected if the client is unhappy with something

• I am in control of my time

• My FLOW doesn’t get disrupted

• I work on all my other scheduled tasks smoothly

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More on this:

This works for WhatsApp, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but if your client uses Skype or Slack for communication and a team is involved, the number of messages you need to catch up might be high (irrespective of the messages’ relevance to you.)

In such cases, I set up an alarm every two hours.

I check DMs every two hours, spend 10 minutes reading and responding, and close the channel.

I don’t worry about things being urgent. Because they rarely are.

If it’s really urgent, clients will reach out to me in one way or the other.

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If I have to summarize, I’d say client communications are tasks in itself. You can’t do them parallelly with other activities.

You must create systems to counter ineffective communication and turn it into productive routines.

Sending bulk messages and allocating time worked for me. See what works for you.

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Before we hop on to the non-technical segment, I have a favour to ask.

If you love reading Cognition, this is how you can help the NL grow:

• Like, comment at the end of the post

• Ask your friends/peers who’d benefit to subscribe

• Talk about it on your socials

• Share the NL links in communities you’re part of

Any contribution from you to grow Cognition would mean the world to me.

Thank youuu and sending hugss! ♥️

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More from Cognition:

Cognition #30: 12 Freelancing Tips from my Career

Cognition #18: How do I hire?

Cognition #12: Instagram Stories: Feature you know. Impact you don't.

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Non-Technical aka Fun Segment

Favourite line from a book

The Keeper Test Managers use at Netflix:

“Which of my people, if they told me they were leaving for a similar job at a peer company, would I fight hard to keep at Netflix?

— No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer

Picked up a book after a long time, and I’m totally invested in No Rules Rules.

If you’re reading Cognition regularly, you know I’ve been hiring, and this particular line impacted how I see team members in terms of value.

Will think deeply about how I can implement it in my biz.

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Movies/Shows I watched recently

1. Aadipurush:
   Watched it after its release on Prime. Understood why it got trolled. The less I speak about it, the better.

2. Arthamayyinda Arun Kumar:
   It’s a Telugu web series on Aha (Telugu OTT platform.) A short 5 Episode series with each episode less than 30 minutes.
   
   I loved it, more like a comfort, feel-good show. It’s similar to the theme of Cubicles on Sony Liv. If you like Cubicles, you might like this too.

3. Jailer:
   I watched it in the theatre with my mom.
   
   I am a huge Rajini fan: Grown up watching films like Narasimha, Basha, Arunachalam, Chandramukhi, Baba, Shivaji, Enthiyan, and many blockbusters.
   
   Jailer is no match to the films I’ve mentioned above, but it’s definitely better compared to the last 6-7 Rajini movies: Not as a story, but from the POV of a person who loves to scream looking at his favourite star.

4. Mahaveeran:
   Crazy film! It’s different from what we usually see, and it’s entertaining for sure. I love how engaging the movie is with a simple story, conflict, and characterization.
   
   It’s available on Prime.

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YouTube video I loved recently

I’m only halfway through. So far, interesting enough to recommend.

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Peek into my Personal Life:

Vikra's Café feels like home to people who enjoy reading light and beautiful content. If you love reading personal stories, travel blogs, and some authentic heartwarming writeups, this is your place:

Or read the archives first here.

(Trust me when I say this is growing faster than Cognition)

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Song I’m listening to on a loop

Just watch. Then vibe.

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That’s all from Cognition #33.

Take care, stay safe, and communicate effectively with your clients.

See ya soon!

Love,
Vikra.