Time & Scheduling

ADHD impulsive emails: turn on delay send

Delay send is a built-in email setting that gives you a short window to pull a message back after hitting send. Here's how to turn it on in the clients you're probably already using.

disclaimer: these posts are not medical advice and provided as information only, with no guarantees

Published 22 Aug 2026Updated 30 Aug 20263 min readBy Leonid Chindelevitch

A clock crumbling at the edges, with a sticky note that says Out at 5:40

Have you ever hit send on an email, only to realize a second later that you forgot something? Or said something you wish you hadn't, fired off too rashly or under a strong emotion, which people with ADHD tend to feel quite a lot?

Or maybe you have the opposite problem: a draft sitting in your drafts folder, and you're so worried about it not being completely right that you're essentially postponing sending it.

It turns out there's a very simple technique that solves both of these problems for good, and it's built into most email clients: delay send.

Instead of your email going out the instant you hit send, delay send gives you a set window of time to change your mind and pull it back. It doesn't get sent right away, you just get a bit of breathing room. I've found 10 seconds is enough for me, but you might want 30 seconds, or even a few minutes. Set it to whatever feels comfortable.

The short version

Two problems
Hit send and wish you hadn't, or a draft that never leaves because it isn't completely right.
Delay send
Instead of your email going out the instant you hit send, you get a set window to change your mind and pull it back.
Pick a window
I've found 10 seconds is enough for me, but you might want 30 seconds, or even a few minutes. Set it to whatever feels comfortable.
It's built in
It's built into most email clients. Turn it on in the one you already use.

Setting it up

📸 Screenshot placeholder — a settings screenshot for at least one email client (e.g. Gmail's Undo Send toggle) goes here.

Instructions for the clients most of you are probably using:

Gmail: Settings → See all settings → General → Undo Send. Choose 5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds. (Google's official instructions)
Outlook (desktop): File → Manage Rules & Alerts → New Rule → "Apply rule on messages I send" → check "defer delivery by a number of minutes" (up to 120). Outlook on the web doesn't have this rule, but its "Schedule send" button gives you the same effect one email at a time. (Microsoft's official instructions)
Apple Mail (Mac): Mail → Settings → Composing → Undo Send Delay. Choose Off, 10, 20, or 30 seconds. On iPhone/iPad it's Settings → Mail → Undo Send Delay. (step-by-step guide)
Thunderbird: not built in; add the free "Send Later" extension, which can delay every outgoing message by a set number of minutes automatically. (Send Later on Thunderbird's add-on store)
For the terminal-and-Vim crowd: if you're composing in Mutt or NeoMutt with Vim as your editor, there's a small tool called MuttDelay built exactly for this. Write your mail, queue it instead of sending, and a cron job flushes the queue once your delay window has passed.

If you can't set it up right now

Make a task in the Herding Chickens app so you don't forget to come back to it. And if you haven't got the app yet, what are you waiting for? Download it, or sign up for the waiting list if it's not out where you are yet.

The first version is Telegram for the waitlist. There isn't a store download yet. Join the waitlist if you want a launch email.

Keep reading

Herding Chickens is a productivity app in development, not medical advice, therapy, or an ADHD diagnosis. If you are struggling, talk to a qualified clinician. In the UK, start with the NHS ADHD in adults page.

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