8 Reasons Why Google's Undo Send 30 Second Time Limit Is Absolutely Not Enough

1. It takes at least 5 minutes just to calm down after being insulted, or having your toes stepped on, by your colleague--or worse yet, your employer.

2. You could be distracted by a pot catching on fire or your child running onto the street or another call coming in, the duration of which can easily extend beyond 30 seconds leaving you stuck.

3. You don't have time to realize, after gloating to your spouse or colleague about the snarky reply you just sent, how completely moronic and overreacting you were. 

4. You were, sadly, too intoxicated while writing the email, the sensory-motor delay from which exceeds the 30 second maximum limit. 

5. 5 seconds? How can you make a decision in 5 seconds to 'undo send' an email? And 10 seconds is a joke--if you are so unsure about what you're writing, maybe you should spend more time on the front end of the email and not so much worrying time on the back end.

6. You're really really angry--I mean super angry--and it takes you 30 minutes, not 30 seconds just to cool down. There should be an added feature for those with anger-management issues, like a 60 minute mercy-delay.

7. You actually should have sent the email, but the 30 second limit made you panic, you chickened out, and retracted it. If you had had more time, you probably would've stuck to your guns and let it ride.

8. We're giving Google false accolades if we accept 30 seconds: "Thanks, Google, for these most merciful 30 seconds to retract our own words! How sagacious, munificent, benevolent! What would we do without you?" A bit silly, don't you think? There should be choice--greater choice: set it for 5, 10, 15 minutes!

To be a bit more serious here, we all need a little grace sometimes; and there are many actions in life for which we'd like a second chance. The fact is, we're all running too hard, too fast, and not taking our words enough into account. We let our emotions run wild, and we haul off and send someone a whole lot of vitriol for no reason; or, we have reason, but know that the situation could be handled differently if we went about the conflict a different way. The key here should be caution up-front when composing an email. If you're upset, give yourself time to cool off before you send something reactionary. 30 seconds is not enough time after the fact, but you can give yourself much more than that before you place your fingers on the keys.