How to reply to all email messages within 24 hours, consistently

May 4, 2006 · 24 Comments

Do you ever get frustrated when someone does not reply to your messages within 24 hours? Isn’t it fun to work with people who reply only after you’ve politely (but persistently) badgered them a few times?

As I used to be one of these overloaded individuals, I can tell you that they only reply to two types of people: those whose cooperation they need in order to get their own job done, and those who badger them persistently enough to make them feel uncomfortable or embarrassingly inefficient.

As I said, I used to be one of these people. I now consistently reply to almost all of my email within 24 hours. So how do I maintain my responsiveness?

In my old way of doing things, if I needed to reply to a message, it was extremely tempting to leave it in the inbox as a reminder to reply. Creating an entry on my task list saying “Reply to such-and-such message” seemed a bit ridiculous to me, so I used to let these messages loiter around in my inbox until I got around to answering them. (Or until they got tired of waiting and disappeared.)

You can guess that my inbox was clogged up with messages that I’d already read. I found that it was easy for such messages to get buried and forgotten, and at best they wasted my time when I re-read and re-re-read them as I scanned my inbox.

I am now disciplined enough to keep my inbox free of clutter, so what do I do with the messages that I need to reply to?

This 2-step solution guarantees that I don’t forget to reply:

Need to reply but don’t have time right now? Drag the message into a special folder, entitled “Reply”, that holds all the messages that need replying to.
Schedule a couple of times a day, every day, in which to crank though the Reply folder, during which you shoot off the necessary answers and file the messages elsewhere.
If you don’t have time to formulate a reply to a complex or time-consuming issue, use this method to keep the other side’s faith until you get the chance to reply.

Since I started using this strategy, replying within 24 hours is no longer stressful – it’s just part of my regular routine.

Categories: Articles · Email Overload · Email Productivity · Email Tips · Email Triage · GTD · Outlook Tips · Stress Management

24 responses so far ↓

TvG // May 5, 2006 at 1:15 am

An alternative is to file every email immediately, but to put a flag on those which need a reply; then to just work through your “For Follow Up” folder. This approach means there is no need to move emails first into the reply folder, and then move them again once you’ve replied to them - though at the cost of having to set and later clear a flag.
Itzy Sabo // May 5, 2006 at 7:16 am

Agreed — your method is essentially the same thing, but using more advanced features of Outlook. Whatever works for you :-)
The main thing is to get messages out of the inbox as soon as you’ve read them.
Ryan B // May 5, 2006 at 6:37 pm

For longer e-mails, I save drafts, and do it periododicly (sp)
piaras // May 8, 2006 at 10:43 pm

I like it.

Previously I drag and drop to a task but with a folder I think you get more control. You can also set aside a block of time to get through the replies rather than the constant “pecking” when it is spread throughout the day.

It is also very satisfying, especially at the end of the week, to have a cleared inbox. Even with mail to reply to in a folder it is just one task.
Paraspaces » Emails Overloaded // May 11, 2006 at 1:31 pm

[...] This is a blog that I came across while going over my dashboard and find this an interesting topic for those who handle thousands of e-mails everyday.You can find the article here. Hope that helps. [...]
dave t // May 12, 2006 at 11:51 pm

http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/assistance/HA011168451033.aspx

has an article on changing your flags for example like mine - Review tomorrow, In 2 days, Important and so on. The new Outlook will offer unlimited categories as well which makes putting your emails for follow up into categories or priroity much easier.
dave t // May 12, 2006 at 11:52 pm

And don’t forget to use SpeedFiler like I do every day and all day to give you the time to answer the dashed things in the first place! 8-)
links for 2006-05-12 - Ian’s Messy Desk // May 13, 2006 at 4:00 am

[...] How to reply to all email messages within 24 hours, consistently (tags: GTD Productivity Email Tips) [...]
Itzy Sabo // May 13, 2006 at 8:06 pm

Dave T: If it works for you — great. I don’t like flags because they “allow” us to keep messages in the inbox, after we’ve decided what work they require. This makes the inbox a place that holds a mix of processed and unprocessed messages. It is much easier for a message to get lost under this pile and not be handled until it’s too late.
dave t // May 14, 2006 at 9:16 pm

But I don’t hold them in the in box. Using SpeedFiler (pbuh) I file as normal once having read and flagged them. I then work my way through the ‘Follow Up’ in Outlook as and when I (a) have time and (b) need to. Thus the emails are always there in the right folders with the relevant other emails etc and when I’ve dealt with it I simply ‘Clear Flag’ and the email is already filed with the reply I sent etc.
Lawrence Salberg » Is your Email Response Time an indication of you? // May 14, 2006 at 9:27 pm

[...] Lifehacker pointed me to a great post by Itzy Sabo on his blog that has a great idea for those of you who most absolutely wait to respond beyond 24 hours. You can also bookmark this on del.icio.us or check the cosmos [...]
Lawrence Salberg // May 15, 2006 at 7:29 pm

Great idea, Itzy… Don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it earlier. I posted my thoughts about response time of email (http://www.salberg.org/2006/03/23/is-your-email-response-time-an-indication-of-you/) back in March, but after seeing your post here, decided to update it with a link to your article here. Hope that is okay. Thanks again!
How to reply to all email messages within 24 hours, consistently - lifehack.org // May 24, 2006 at 6:29 pm

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links for 2006-05-25 | Musings by Steve Miller // May 25, 2006 at 6:23 am

[...] Email Overloaded » Blog Archive » How to reply to all email messages within 24 hours, consistently (tags: email productivity gtd lifehacks tips blogs) [...]
Drainedge Link Tank » Today’s Links // May 25, 2006 at 3:59 pm

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Matthew Cornell // June 12, 2006 at 4:16 pm

Thanks for the nice post. I use a GTD approach, and it works great. In addition, I use a “two-phase” response system: If I know I can’t reply in 24 hours (my personal goal), I write a quick “got your message, can’t reply now” message. Then I deal with it via GTD.

I wrote a bit more here, FYI:

What’s your maximum response time?
http://ideamatt.blogspot.com/2005/12/whats-your-maximum-response-time.html
Jeremy Toeman // July 13, 2006 at 4:31 am

I get about 300 or so emails a day. I have a four-step process

1) Set up a view that makes anything where I’m just on the CC list automatically italic, and anything where I am the only recipient automatically larger font.

2) If I open an email, right then and there I either (a) respond, (b) delete, (c) flag or mark unread - this way I never ‘lose’ emails

3) About twice per day view Unread messages and process

4) About thrice per day view Flagged messages and process

About once a month I sort through my inbox, getting from the 1000s of emails down to a couple of hundred.

Best of luck!
-Jeremy
Topics2Blog // August 17, 2006 at 2:27 pm

Got over 500 email per day (affilate programm).
Sometime my hands are shaking :)
But some automatic tools, written by my programmer helps me to avoid some manual actions.
willi // September 20, 2006 at 9:52 am

i get many email too. i answer it asap and i have a filter in thunderbird. so i can see importen mails faster
Claire Millington // December 7, 2006 at 10:15 am

The email filer looks great on paper. If you are not allowed to download stuff to your work system though there is a simple way of helping keep on top of filing stuff. Underneath your signature put a line that says something like:

Filed under: [Foldername].

You can then easily search inbox, sent items etc for that keyword. And file. It wont work for new emails being sent to you but it will help you keep track of those that you have sent, which is usually more important (those are the ones you have gotten yourself committed to).
Claire Millington // December 7, 2006 at 10:16 am

You need to make your folder keywords distinctive too…
Small Catastropha « Blogs are like opinions. Everybody has one… // December 20, 2006 at 10:03 am

[...] Μέχρι που μπορεί να αφαιρεθείς και να κάνεις “mark as read” όλο το INBOX. Ίσως η μεθοδος του Itzy Sabo να με βοηθήσει. Ίσως πάλι απλά αντί να μεγαλώνει το INBOX μου, να μεγαλώνει το Reply folder. Posted by adamo Filed in email, Greek [...]
Denise Landers // June 26, 2007 at 2:21 am

Everything you say reflects the frustrations I hear in my time management seminars for corporations. Email overload ranks among the top complaints. I think your SpeedFiler system could become a great tool for some of them who are struggling to keep up.
Ramakant Sharma // October 12, 2007 at 6:40 pm

I get around hundreds emails daily. First of all I have a look at all the emails and If I see any important email i flag that immediately and look for other important messages. After looking at the inbox I read flagged emails again and respond if needed.
Thanks,
Rama

Email Overloaded