How to Send One-Off Emails Without Interrupting Your Workflows

It’s common for subscribers to move through a welcome flow and a nurture workflow before landing on your general email list. But what happens when you want to send a one-off email—like an announcement, launch, or timely update—while some people are still in the middle of a workflow?

Good news: you don’t need to pause your workflows, duplicate emails, or stress about things feeling “random.”

The solution is simple: use a temporary “Do not disturb” segment to protect the experience for subscribers currently in a workflow.

This guide walks you through exactly how to set that up, step by step.

This approach helps you:

• Keep automated workflows running smoothly

• Avoid overwhelming new subscribers

• Send timely one-off emails with confidence

• Create a more intentional, less “noisy” inbox experience

Go to Audience > Segments, and create a new segment in your account called something clear and intentional, such as:

• "Do not disturb"

• "Currently in workflow"

• "Automation in progress"

This segment will temporarily hold subscribers while they move through your workflows.

At the very beginning of your welcome or nurture workflow, immediately after the trigger step:

• Add an action that adds the subscriber to the “Do not disturb” segment

This ensures that as soon as someone enters the workflow, they’re protected from one-off emails.

At the final step of your workflow:

• Add an action that removes the subscriber from the “Do not disturb” segment

Once they finish the workflow, they’re free to receive your regular one-off emails again.

When you send a one-off (broadcast) email to your general list:

• Select your main audience as usual

• Exclude the “Do not disturb” segment

This means:

• Subscribers still in a workflow won’t receive the one-off email

• Subscribers who have finished the workflow will receive it

Clean, simple, and intentional.

Honestly? You’re not wrong for thinking about it—but you don’t need to stress.

Many businesses do send one-off emails to people in workflows, and most subscribers won’t mind. This setup is simply a more polished option if you:

• Want tighter control over the subscriber experience

• Run longer or more intentional nurture workflows

• Prefer fewer interruptions during onboarding

If that sounds like you, this method is a great fit.

No. Sending a one-off email does not interrupt or stop workflows. This setup is purely about controlling who receives those emails.

Not usually. Most members use a single “Do not disturb” segment for all onboarding or nurture workflows.

As long as that workflow also adds them to the “Do not disturb” segment at the start and removes them at the end, everything will continue to work smoothly.

Yes. If you ever want to email everyone, simply don’t exclude the “Do not disturb” segment for that send.

Not at all. This is a best-practice option, not a requirement. Use it if it supports the experience you want to create.