Don't reply in the heat of the moment

You get a message that upsets you, a criticism or a proposal that catches you by surprise. The emotion arrives first and wants to answer now: send the voice note, close the subject or hit back before understanding properly what has happened. Waiting a little isn't cowardice or indecision. It's a very concrete way of governing yourself: separating what happened from what you've interpreted, praying, consulting someone and letting the intensity drop so that your head can speak too. Not everything can wait, but almost everything improves with a pause. Sometimes the bravest thing is to say: "Let me think about it and I'll answer you tomorrow."