We’ve all been there. You fire off a WhatsApp message in the heat of an argument, or while rushing to leave the house, and all hell breaks loose. Either you said something you didn’t really mean, or your tone was all wrong – too blunt, too disinterested, too cold, too angry, too passive-aggressive. But now it’s too late to take it back, and you’re stuck trying to atone for your words.

It’s precisely because of situations like these that Katy Perry always drafts her messages before sending them. During an appearance on the Conversations with Delilah podcast, the musician said that she’s learned the hard way that it’s better to take time to reflect before sending a text or a tweet.

Read more: Katy Perry on how going into therapy changed her life for the better

“[Sometimes you] shouldn’t press send,” Perry told podcast host Delilah Rene. “It’s like a lesson in self-control.

“I like drafting and sleeping on it because, for me, my emotions get very heightened in the evening [and] then in the morning when I wake up I’m like ‘Oh, I’m so glad I didn’t send that!’” she continued. “’I can get through another day without this situation.’”

Perry added that past relationships had taught her the dangers of pressing send too soon, and that sometimes the very process of drafting a message can help provide perspective on a difficult situation. Think of it as an updated version of writing a letter you never intend to send, which has long been recommended as a means of getting closure.

“I’ve been in that cycle before in a relationship and it had kind of reignited the relationship, and there’s only so many times you can reignite the relationship or want to or should and sometimes you just need to write it and never send it,” said Perry.

“It's just that exercise – that cathartic exercise.”

If you’ve ever wanted to unsend a hastily fired-off WhatsApp message, now you can – but there’s a catch. Read all about the recent software update here.

Images: Rex Features