Instant messaging: you send a message, they respond. Instantly.

That’s not what happens when we publish an 800 word essay about a new self-help practice. Or a 16 minute video about a new meditation technique.

A good reader isn’t done reading after they’ve read the last word. The reading continues while the reader considers what they’ve read.

And if they try to apply what they’ve read? Expect to wait even longer to hear their feedback. Finding out if your advice actually works takes longer than reading your essay. Because of this, it takes longer than we think for our messages to spread.

But that doesn’t stop us from checking to see if anyone has liked our 800 word essay that we published 2 minutes ago. (If anybody has, your readers must be very good at speed-reading.)

So here’s a rule that might help ease any post-publishing nerves.

After you click publish, go take a hike.