Open questions from a busy person get open answers, or no answer at all. Write a three-line email instead: the one decision you need from your supervisor, what you've already done, and the date you need it by. Before you press send, check they could answer it with a yes, a no or a couple of sentences.

Why "up to you" keeps coming back

"How should I approach the methodology?" is an open question. "Up to you" is the open answer you're most likely to get. Your supervisor isn't ignoring you. An email that needs an afternoon of their time waits for an afternoon that rarely comes, while an email they can answer in two minutes, from their phone between meetings, gets answered.

The three-line email

Every email that gets answered does the same three things:

1. The decision I need from you. Name one decision, small enough to answer with a yes, a no or a couple of sentences.
2. What I've already done. Show or attach the work. You're asking them to check your thinking, not do it for you.
3. The date I need it by. Tie it to a real consequence, and say what you'll do if you hear nothing.

Three lines can mean a couple of sentences each. It still beats an essay.

The test before you press send

Could your supervisor answer this with a yes, a no or a couple of sentences? If not, it's still an open question, and it will get an open answer.

Script 1: When you need direction

What most people send: "How should I approach the methodology?"

What gets answered: "I've drafted the inclusion criteria below, and I'm proposing a scoping review rather than a systematic one. Can you confirm before I run the search?"

The first asks them to design your study. The second asks them to check a decision you've already made. The rule underneath: always propose, don't just ask. A supervisor will correct a wrong proposal in a couple of lines, but won't build a right one from scratch. And if your proposal is wrong, you've lost nothing.

Script 2: When you need feedback on your writing

What most people send: "Could you read my chapter when you get the chance?" with 40 pages attached.

What gets answered: "Section 4.2, pages 11 to 14 only. One question: does the contribution claim come across, or is it still buried?"

Forty pages with no question is a weekend they don't have, so it gets deferred, often for a month or more. Four pages with one question gets you an answer to what matters most. And if you only get one question, make it the contribution: it's the sentence an examiner hunts for first.

Script 3: When your supervisor has gone quiet

What most people send: "Just following up on my last email…"

What gets answered: "I don't want to hold the work up, so I'll proceed on the basis we agreed: [X]. Tell me by Friday if that's wrong and I'll change course."

The first asks them to make a decision again. The second politely takes the decision back, with a date. If they don't reply, you have their consent in writing. This isn't rude. It's the most respectful email a busy person can get, because it costs them nothing unless you're wrong, and if you are, they'll tell you in a couple of lines.

Script 4: When their feedback contradicts itself

What you want to send: "Your comments this time contradict what you told me before."

What gets answered: "In March you suggested framing it as X, and in July as Y. I've gone with X because [reason]. Happy to switch if you'd rather."

Same fact, opposite effect. The first is an accusation, and a defensive supervisor is a slow supervisor. The second shows you've been listening, states your reasoning and leaves the door open. Supervisors usually contradict themselves because they've forgotten what they said last time, not to test you. Give them the record, and nine times out of ten they'll say go with X.

Professor Emmanuel Tsekleves has supervised 30+ doctorates to completion and examined 45+ theses across 15+ universities, so he's sat on both sides of these emails. He is Emeritus Professor at Lancaster University.

If your supervisor has gone quiet for good, one-to-one mentoring gives you the structure supervision is missing.