How long do you typically take to reply to an email?

[plain jane]

Pretty much what the title says. :)

 

When someone sends you an email, ON AVERAGE, how long would you say you take to reply?

 

Does it matter greatly who the email is from or what it's regarding?

 

What says the Hive? (poll to follow)

[LisaKinVA]

It does depend upon what it is... and sometimes who it's from.

 

I typically respond pretty quickly (within 10 min. or less, if I can). However, sometimes the response needs "work" -- it's emotionally charged, I need to be really careful...it's political, I need to be careful...it's dumb, I need to be careful. Or, I have to wait for others to respond to me before I can respond.

 

Most emails fall into these three camps: can be trashed without reading, can be read and not responded too, or need a response. If they are in category 3, I tend to respond right away, or I forget.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Another "it depends". I see e-mails right away most of the time because I have my e-mail up on a tab and see if the unread count changes. Most personal e-mails I respond to immediately because if it gets buried in newer e-mails I tend to forget about them. But some business e-mails need me to pull out a file or to consult dh and those take longer. I still try to respond to those by the next day though because again, they get buried and forgotten.

[SKL]

Depends on whom it's from. If it's work, it depends on how urgent the project is, but I try to answer questions within 24 hours max.

 

I see my personal emails on my Blackberry, but don't log into Hotmail more than every day or two. I will usually reply to a personal email within a few days, though if they are urgently asking for information, I'll respond right away.

[Tap]

A few days unless I need to get back with them sooner. I don't like to respond right away, because I usually check them at night before bed and I have to be careful how I word things. At night I come across as very curt. I am more abrupt with my language. I am not chatty at night, so I am more likely to just answer a question and send it back. If someone is talking to me in person, the inflection makes it seem normal, because they would see that I am tired and not in a talkative mood. In written language, I can come across as rude.

[saja1029]

Depends on who it's from, what it's about and if a response is urgently needed:)

[Daisy]

I check my email once or twice a day, but can take up to two days to respond to an email depending upon the content.

 

I don't have the ability to check email from any source other than our desktop computer. I pretty sure I'm glad about that. ;)

[TheReader]

Usually once/day I'm writing emails. If an email is just a quick question, I'll answer when it comes in (I do check more often than once/day). But if it's something that involves me sitting down and really putting thought into it, or a long chatty email, then I usually reply the day after I get the email, sometimes 2 or (rarely) 3 days later. I try to answer w/in 24 hrs, because I'm very bad about reading an email and not replying, and I've inadvertently hurt a friend's feelings that way before. I'm trying to be more intentional about answering sooner, but really, the only time I have to sit and write out a thoughtful reply is in the early morning when DH has left for work and none of the boys are up yet. After that, I'm too busy with school, life, kids, etc. and while I might pop in and read an email, I don't have time to answer.

 

I voted the once/day choice.

[mytwomonkeys]

it can take me hours to several days. it really just depends on what the email is in regard to and who the sender is. for example, when i get an email confirmation notice to teach on sunday at church, i accept or decline as soon as i read it. my response is dependent on smooth scheduling. but if i get one of many craft emails from my FIL's wife, i may not reply at all. but she knows i'm not being rude. she sends me stuff like that all of the time, and to say thanks each email would be unnecessary. if it's an email that requires a real response (like a letter of sorts), i just wait until i have the time to reply without distractions. if it's a forward, i often don't reply - but i might if it really resonated with me... it just depends.

 

anyway... you get the drift:) i try to reply though. when i don't, it is never done rudely. the email just doesn't solicit a response.

[Lolly]

I have very few emails that need a response. How long would depend on whether or not I find it. If someone sends me an email, I hope they contact me in another manner if I do not respond to it. I receive so much spam that I have been known to delete real mail because it just gets lost in it.

[radiobrain]

Once again, no perfect answer for me.

 

Usually within a few hours, I check my email at least 2X a day.

 

HOWEVER, I don't necessarily respond to everything in a timely manner. I have board related emails, family emails, weird other emails etc. It totally depends on who is writing. or how involved the mail needs to be.