We make decisions impulsively. Without thinking. Without doing our due diligence. Without a clear understanding of the situation. Without ensuring it’s the right move.
There aren’t many feelings worse than that of overwhelming regret. It’s rather crippling to know that you did something stupid that was completely avoidable at the time. You had the power, but you decided to relinquish it in exchange for a moment of utter stupidity.
Sometimes in real life, we can make amends. We can apologize. We can face the embarrassment and correct our mistakes. But we can’t change the past.
In the digital world, it’s always been even more extreme. What’s done is done. There are logs and breadcrumbs that prove it.
This week, Gmail said “No more” to immediate email regret. You now have the option to turn on a feature that gives you up to 30 seconds of leeway to take back an email you didn’t really mean to send.
Immediate regret happens to everybody. If you think you’ll ever regret not turning this feature on, go ahead and solve that problem now.