What is NRR? No Response Required
A 1-Second Digital Communication Lifehack
We live in a world that is incessantly and incremental trying to completely overwhelm us. Half the battle of productivity is hacking away the superfluous To-Dos from our existence. No Response Required (NRR) is a super concise way to give the gift of freedom to those you communicate with.
How it works
Unless you need a specific decision from the recipient, add No Response Required or NRR (linked to this article or video) as the very first line of your emails or digital communications. NRR takes literally about 1 second (or less!) to add to the beginnings of your digital communications.
The majority of emails are minuscule demands to increase the burden of responsibility for the recipient. No Response Required is a 3-word (or 3-letter acronym) vehicle to communicate…
- You value their time and attention.
- You are doing what you can to decrease their stress.
- You understand Decision Fatigue; you aren’t going to cost them Glucose, the decision-making neurotransmitter, which they could spend better on more important decisions.
- They can delete the email after scanning it. Not another email to clog up their inbox.
- When you do send them To Do’s they will be important. You are not a source of arbitrary digital responsibilities.
As a web designer who has worked with over 100 clients, I’ve sent and received enough emails in the past 5 years for two lifetimes. Many of the emails I sent were informational status updates simply letting my clients know that I was getting things done. Many of my clients are people whose time is worth +$100/hourly, these kinds of people pay me the big bucks to solve complicated problems and shoulder some of the substantial burdens their lives entail. To do this I started adding NRR to emails that don’t require them to make decisions.
Situations to use NRR
- Sending project status updates to a client.
- Sending initial proofs of a creative project
- Instant messaging a colleague about the delineation of responsibilities.
- Text messaging your significant other about your plans.
- Newsletters to your email subscribers.
- Letting your family know what presents you are interested in for the holidays.
Examples:
No Response Required. Done.
NRR. I will bring the appetizers.
NRR. I’ve got the sales page we discussed at 90%… I’m waiting on the ad copy writer’s samples, which I will implement as soon as I receive. Will send you an update in the next 48 hours.
A tool that’s been indispensable for me as a productivity rockstar is Boomerang
I use this to painlessly schedule emails and calls with clients, along with checking if emails have been opened by the other party. If you want to hate email less and get more done, use Boomerang.
