Rajiv Pant

The High-Five Habit: Write Less, Communicate Better, Live More

TL;DR: The High-Five Habit in 5 Sentences

Write most of your messages in 5 sentences or less, composed in under 5 minutes. If you need more than 5 minutes to write, have a conversation or compose a document as appropriate. Pause 5 minutes before responding, limit to 5 recipients maximum, and allow 5 days for non-urgent responses. This applies to emails, Slack, texts, social posts, and even AI prompts. Practice these five fives, and reduce stress for both parties.

The Full Story: We’re All Drowning in Digital Noise

Picture this: It’s 9 AM, and you’ve already received 47 emails, 23 Slack messages, 12 text messages, and your LinkedIn is having a notification party. By the time you’ve responded to half of them, it’s lunch, you’re exhausted, and you haven’t done any actual work. Sound familiar?

We’re not just drowning in communication—we’re drowning in bad communication. According to research from the McKinsey Global Institute, knowledge workers spend 28% of their workweek managing email alone1. Add in Slack (users average 90 minutes per day2), text messages, social media, and other platforms, and we’re spending more time talking about work than doing work.

But here’s the kicker: most of this communication is unnecessarily verbose, unclear, or simply unnecessary. We’ve mistaken word count for thoughtfulness and response time for responsiveness. We’re playing an endless game of digital ping-pong that nobody wins.

Enter the High-Five Habit: Your Life Raft in the Digital Ocean

My High-Five Habit, inspired by five.sentenc.es is simple:

  • 5 Sentences: Keep most written messages to 5 sentences or less
  • 5 Minutes to Write: If it takes longer, pick up the phone
  • 5 Minute Pause: Wait before responding to avoid reactive replies
  • 5 Recipients Maximum: Limit distribution to prevent reply-all chaos
  • 5 Day Response Time: For non-urgent communications

I’m not encouraging you to be rude or robotic. I’m requesting you to recognize that constraints force clarity, and clarity is kindness. When you limit your sentences, you can’t hide behind corporate buzzwords or meander through unnecessary context. You must say what you mean.

Why 5 Sentences Works Across Every Platform

Email: The Original Sinner

Traditional emails are where we learned all our bad habits. We write novels when haikus would do. Consider this transformation:

Before (what we typically write):

Hi Jennifer,

I hope you are doing well. I wanted to reach out regarding the upcoming project meeting that we discussed last week in the hallway after the all-hands meeting. As you may recall, we talked about potentially moving it to accommodate the product team’s schedule, but I wasn’t sure if we had landed on a final decision.

I’ve been thinking about it, and I believe it might be beneficial for us to include the design team as well, as they have some valuable insights that could contribute to the discussion.

Would it be possible for us to find a time that works for everyone? I know calendars are quite busy this time of year with the quarter ending and all the various initiatives we have going on.

Please let me know your thoughts when you have a chance.

Best regards,

After (the 5-sentence version):

Hi Jennifer, We need to finalize the project meeting date. Should we include the design team? I can coordinate calendars if you agree. How about Thursday 2-4pm? Let me know by Wednesday.

Same information. 80% less reading time. 100% more clarity.

Slack/Teams: The Attention Fragmenters

These platforms were supposed to reduce email but instead created a parallel universe of endless threads. The 5-sentence rule prevents those meandering Slack novels that make everyone silently scream.

Pro tip: In Slack, 5 sentences usually means 1-2 messages. If you’re typing a third message, you would likely be better served by a huddle.

Text Messages: Already Perfect (When Used Right)

SMS naturally enforces brevity, yet somehow we’ve managed to ruin this too with endless group texts and paragraph-long messages. The High-Five Habit says: if your text has paragraphs, it’s not a text—it’s an email in the wrong outfit.

Social Media: Where Brevity Meets Virality

LinkedIn isn’t your personal blog. Twitter isn’t your diary. The 5-sentence rule helps you make your point without writing those cringe-worthy “I’m humbled to announce” novels that make everyone’s eyes roll so hard they can see their own brain.

AI Prompts: The New Frontier

Here’s where it gets interesting. In the age of ChatGPT and Claude, prompt clarity directly correlates with output quality. Research shows that concise, well-structured prompts produce better results than rambling requests3. The 5-sentence discipline trains you to communicate clearly with both humans and AI.

Example of a 5-sentence AI prompt:

Please write me a Python script that analyzes CSV sales data. It should calculate monthly revenue totals and growth rates. Include data visualization using matplotlib. Add error handling for missing data. Output results to a new CSV file.

Clear. Specific. Actionable.

The 5-Minute Composition Rule: Your BS Detector

If you can’t write it in 5 minutes, you’re either:

  1. Trying to solve a complex problem via text (schedule a meeting)
  2. Avoiding a difficult conversation (pick up the phone)
  3. Writing documentation (use the right tool)
  4. Overthinking it (trust your first instinct)
  5. Trying to persuade rather than communicate (be direct instead)

This rule is particularly powerful because it forces you to identify when written communication is the wrong medium. According to research by UCLA professor Albert Mehrabian, only 7% of communication is conveyed through words alone4. Complex topics need the other 93%—tone and body language.

The 5-Minute Pause: Your Reputation Insurance

This might be the most valuable part of the entire system. The 5-minute pause before responding serves as:

Emotional Regulation: That snarky reply to your boss? The pause saves your career. Studies show that emotional regulation improves dramatically with even brief delays⁵.

Context Gathering: Half the time, a follow-up message arrives that changes everything. The pause prevents you from looking foolish.

Strategic Thinking: Instead of reactive responses, you send strategic ones. You look thoughtful rather than triggered.

The Bathroom Break Bonus: Sometimes nature calls. The pause gives you permission.

The 5-Recipient Maximum: Ending Reply-All Hell

This might be the most underappreciated rule. Every additional recipient exponentially increases communication complexity. With 5 recipients, you have potential for 25 different reply paths. With 10 recipients? You’ve created a communication monster.

The 5-recipient maximum forces you to:

  • Target your message: Who really needs this information?
  • Prevent dilution: Fewer eyes mean clearer accountability
  • Reduce noise: Stop contributing to everyone’s inbox overflow
  • Encourage ownership: Small groups make decisions; large groups make excuses

If more than 5 people truly need the information, that’s what documents, wikis, or team meetings are for. Email is for communication, not mass distribution.

Implementation: Make the High-Five Habit Your Default

Start with Templates

Create 5-sentence templates for common scenarios:

Meeting Request:

  1. Context/Purpose
  2. Specific topic/agenda
  3. Suggested time options
  4. Duration expectation
  5. Call to action

Project Update:

  1. Current status
  2. Key accomplishment/milestone
  3. Main blocker/challenge
  4. Next steps
  5. Timeline/deadline

Introduction:

  1. Who you are
  2. Why you’re reaching out
  3. Specific request/offer
  4. Mutual benefit/value
  5. Clear next step

The Exception Framework

Not every message fits in 5 sentences. Here’s when to break the rule:

  • Legal/Compliance Communications: Cover your assets
  • Documentation: Use proper tools, not messages
  • Emotional Support: Sometimes people need more than efficiency
  • First Impressions: Some situations merit extra investment
  • Creative Work: Don’t constrain artistic expression

The key is making 5 sentences your default, not your deity.

The Psychology: Why Constraints Create Freedom

Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time available⁶. The same applies to communication—messages expand to fill the space we give them. By constraining space and time, we force focus.

This isn’t just theory. Twitter’s original 140-character limit didn’t prevent communication—it revolutionized it. Haiku’s 17 syllables create more poetry than free verse. Constraints don’t limit creativity; they channel it.

The Generative AI Angle: Training Yourself for the Future

As AI becomes our co-worker, clear communication becomes even more critical. AI doesn’t read between lines, catch subtle hints, or understand what you “really meant.” The High-Five Habit trains you to communicate in ways that both humans and AI can act on effectively.

Consider this evolution:

  • 1990s: “Can you write a proper business letter?”
  • 2000s: “Can you compose clear emails?”
  • 2010s: “Can you communicate effectively in Slack?”
  • 2020s: “Can you prompt AI successfully?”
  • 2030s: “Can you interface with any intelligence, artificial or otherwise?”

The High-Five Habit prepares you for all of these.

Real-World Results: What Happens When You Implement This

Based on my experience and feedback from others who’ve adopted similar systems:

  1. Email volume drops 40-50% as people mirror your brevity
  2. Response rates increase because your messages are actually read
  3. Meeting requests decrease as written communication improves
  4. Stress levels plummet as communication becomes manageable
  5. Relationships improve through clearer, more respectful interaction

The Deeper Truth: Respect as Currency

Every unnecessary word you write is a small theft of someone’s time. Every rambling message is a tiny act of disrespect. My High-Five Habit is designed for both efficiency and empathy.

When you send a 5-sentence email, you’re saying: “I respect your time enough to be clear.” When you pause before responding, you’re saying: “I respect our relationship enough to be thoughtful.” When you pick up the phone instead of writing a novel, you’re saying: “I respect this conversation enough to have it properly.”

Getting Started: Your 5-Week Challenge

Week 1: Practice 5-sentence emails only Week 2: Add the 5-minute composition rule Week 3: Implement the 5-minute pause Week 4: Enforce the 5-recipient maximum Week 5: Expand to all written communication

Track what works, what doesn’t, and what surprises you. Some of my friends and colleagues who tried a version of this reported that by week 3, they can’t imagine going back to their old ways.

A Personal Note from Someone Who’s Been There

I hail from a family of writers and journalists. I am that guy who defaults to writing email novels. Some of my emails and even text messages have subheadings. Seriously. My Slack messages required “typing…” indicators that lasted so long people thought I’d been kidnapped. I justified it as being “thorough” or “thoughtful,” but really, I was just being inefficient — it’s easier to write long than short.

My High-Five Habit makes my life better whenever I use it. It makes my communications clearer. My relationships improve. I stop dreading my inbox. Also, people actually respond. Promptly. LOL.

The Bottom Line: Your Choice

You can continue drowning in digital communication, spending hours crafting messages that won’t be read, responding to things that don’t matter, and wondering where your day went.

Or you can try the High-Five Habit.

Five sentences. Five minutes to write. Five-minute pause. Five recipients maximum. Five-day response time for non-urgent items.

It’s not perfect for every situation, but it’s perfect for most situations. And in a world where communication overload is killing productivity and joy, “perfect for most” is exactly what we need.

Start today. Your future self — and people who communicate with you—will thank you.

When you receive a brief message from me, it’s not that I don’t care—it’s that I care enough to be clear and respect your time.

Endnotes

  1. McKinsey Global Institute. (2012). “The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies.”
  2. Slack. (2019). “State of Work Report.” Business Wire.
  3. Zamfirescu-Pereira, J.D., et al. (2023). “Why Johnny can’t prompt: how non-AI experts try (and fail) to design LLM prompts.” CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
  4. Mehrabian, A. (1971). “Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes.” Wadsworth.
  5. Gross, J. J. (2002). “Emotion regulation: Affective, cognitive, and social consequences.” Psychophysiology, 39(3), 281-291.
  6. Parkinson, C. N. (1955). “Parkinson’s Law.” The Economist.