The Cooling Off Rule

Waited an hour and still feel the heat? Sleep on it. The version you send tomorrow will be clearer and calmer than anything written in the moment.

During your cooling period, reread with the recipient's eyes. Would you feel defensive reading this? Replace "You failed to deliver" with "The deliverable hasn't arrived yet." Same message, completely different emotional impact.

End on collaboration: "I'm confident we can sort this out" keeps the relationship intact and prevents blame spirals.