Earlier today a colleague called. She was frantic because I hadn’t responded to an email message she had sent. She read the text of the message to me and I didn’t recall receiving the message. We had a good conversation on the phone and got the questions she had resolved. However, it bothered me I didn’t receive her message. I finally did a search for the message and found it in my Junk Mail folder. This happens occasionally, but I usually sweep through junk mail once a day and grab anything important out. The thing that caused me to write this post is the person who called said she didn’t understand why I wasn’t responding to her. When I looked at the date on the email it was from last Friday (May 23rd).

Generally, I respond to email within two business days. I try to process email at least twice a day - normally once in the morning and once in the afternoon. If I can deal with it in two minutes - it’s done and out of there. If it’s a task that requires more than two minutes and isn’t immediately due, I’ll put it in Remember The Milk. If it is something that doesn’t fit one of those two categories I’ll generally email the person and let them know my course of action on responding and then go from there. And, of course, a lot just gets read and deleted or filed. And, as I said, I sweep junk mail at least once a day to make sure nothing of importance goes in there.

So, dear reader, how long is not long enough before we raise the panic alarm on an email that has not been responded to? Is my two business day rule (which due to the holiday yesterday wasn’t yet expired) too long for today’s fast-paced communication? I welcome your thoughts.