How fast do you reply to emails?

[skiing]

How fast do you reply to emails from Professors/students? It seems like Professors always respond right away with emails. Is this the norm in academia? More importantly, is it seen as rude if you DON'T respond within, say, 5-10 hours (or a day)?

Edited March 22, 2011 by skiing

[waddle]

How fast do you reply to emails from Professors/students?

It usually takes me between a few hours and a few days (up to a week, if the emails are really piling on hard); on average, I guess it takes me 1-2 days to do respond to an email.

It seems like Professors always respond right away with emails. Is this the norm in academia? More importantly, is it seen as rude if you DON'T respond within, say, 5-10 hours (or a day)?

I am wondering this exact thing! Thanks for bringing it up. A PhD comic that is related: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1047 (is it true, guys?)

[robot_hamster]

Not necessarily rude. But in some cases, panic might ensue.

[poco_puffs]

For the PhD comic, it's been mostly true in my experience, except one professor who used to write these fabulously composed novels for emails-- and I loved every paragraph of it.

Bah. I just typed a long paragraph about how everyone has lives and rules for compartmentalizing work and some people have access issues when they aren't tied to a smartphone, but then I realized that these sorts of professional expectations really probably differ by discipline and department. Check with older grad students in your area, and see what they have to say. You might be in an atmosphere where people have high expectations about your availability, or you may be in a situation like mine where going sans email for 12-18 hours isn't grounds for a raised eyebrow, let alone some sort of punishment.

As for why professors respond so quickly and briefly, it probably IS because they have a lot of emails coming through, and they need to address as many as they can in order to avoid a build-up or a missed message. At some point they also probably stop worrying about how they sound in emails-- at least to the students.

[fuzzylogician]

It depends on the email, the time of day, the day of week and generally how busy I am vs. what the email is asking. I usually try to answer students' emails by the next day; I find that answering too fast has the effect of making them ask me every little thing instead of trying to deal with their problems themselves. I definitely don't think it's rude to take evenings and weekends off to myself and not rushing to answer emails at those times. I usually answer professors' emails as soon as I see them, because they don't normally require that much work (check my calendar for availability, attach a file they asked for - that sort of thing). Other emails - administrative issues and such, I try to get done within a day or two of getting them.

In general, I try to keep my inbox as empty as possible [right now it's down to 13]. I only keep emails there that I still have to deal with, the rest get labeled and archived. It makes it much easier to keep track of everything.

[rising_star]

It really depends on what's in the email and what else I have going on. Today, I wrote my advisor back within 20 minutes of getting an email, but that's because I was checking my email and the response required me to write literally two lines. Other times, it may take me longer.

I'm super bad when it comes to replying to student emails, especially ones that are grading-related. I try to reply within 24 hours but sometimes I forget and/or am not on campus where the papers in question are so I can't really answer.

[Eigen]

I usually reply within a few minutes to a few hours (depends if I'm at my desk or in my lab), and it almost never takes me longer than 12 hours (I check in the morning, and again when I'm done with work in the evening).

I don't find it takes me that long to compose most e-mails.... I have a couple that I've sat on for half a day or so to think of, but that's mostly the first time I'm writing a new professor somewhere to make a connection.

[B-612]

I try to respond within the week, though this means added pressure as you get closer to the weekend (but hopefully more free time with which to reply). I think in most cases, it depends on the individual's current situation. I used to be an eager beaver with e-mail replies because I had the time and the energy. This semester, my workload has maxed out and I've been less able.

Are you early on in grad school? I doubt it will be long before you stumble across professors who take forever to respond--if they respond at all. We have a nice mix of Type A and Type B personalities at my school and it doesn't take long to figure out which professors fall under those categories.

[GrandeChaiLatte]

How fast do you reply to emails from Professors/students? It seems like Professors always respond right away with emails. Is this the norm in academia? More importantly, is it seen as rude if you DON'T respond within, say, 5-10 hours (or a day)?

My principle has always been: "Email is a passive form of communication". Email is wonderful because it's a recorded form of communication, and when you're incredibly busy or you want some time to think about your answer, you can sit on it. If it's an urgent matter, I answer it right away, otherwise, it can take a few hours up to 2 days for a reply. I do laboratory benchwork, and it's not practical for me to stop a critical experiment just to answer an email. To be efficient, I try to do go through my inbox first thing in the morning, after lunch, or at the end of the day.

I don't think your time frame is "rude". It also depends on how anxious you are about replying to it. If you are, just go for it.

[eco_env]

I take between a few seconds to a few days usually, depending on how much thought the response requires. Sometimes I'll email first to say I'll get back to them later if it seems like they are really looking for a response. I'm have my email open an average of about 1/5th of the day, and respond to emails as soon as I get them if I can, but I'm crazy. My professors tend to take 0.5 hours to half a day to respond, depnding on what day of the week it is and what time of day it is.

[InquilineKea]

Are professors ever offended if you take several days to reply to their emails?

I suppose the greater risk might be that they might forget about you and then be less likely to reply to your reply though...

[rising_star]

Are professors ever offended if you take several days to reply to their emails?

That depends on what the email is about. If you are someone's TA or RA, you shouldn't wait days to answer their email because that's just plain rude. I respond to faculty as quickly as I can.

[Eigen]

I'm probably a bit too fast sometimes. I tend to be a bit compulsive about it. Unless it's after 9pm or before 8 am, my response time is usually 10-15 minutes.

[StrangeLight]

i usually return emails within an hour, unless i'm asleep. if it's an email that calls for some thought (i.e. an advisor asking fundamental questions about my work) i take a couple hours to breathe and think before responding. if i get one of those earth-shattering emails on a weekend, i'll give myself a grace period until monday to reply. but anything that's simply procedural, i respond as soon as i see it otherwise i'll forget about it.

i've found that in the process of attempting to declutter my life, dealing with easy emails ("it's okay if we move our meeting to 10") as soon as you see them has lowered my stress levels and made my life a lot simpler. if i get an email that requires a lot of thought AND a quick reply, i reply right away that i'll think on it and get back to the person. people don't really like to be left hanging and if they're expecting an answer, i find it's helpful to let them know you're working on it.

i am chained to a laptop or smartphone at all times, though, and i don't actually think this is the best thing for productivity or getting regular human contact. i don't think people need to reply within the hour and constantly check their emails, but i do think replying to the easy stuff as soon as you see it is a good habit.

[StrangeLight]

Are professors ever offended if you take several days to reply to their emails?

I suppose the greater risk might be that they might forget about you and then be less likely to reply to your reply though...

sometimes they're offended. especially if their email is straight forward and not asking for a fundamental rethinking of your research. conversely, i've always found that professors explicitly tell me they appreciate it when i get back to them promptly. people (any people) get sick of waiting for responses to fairly simple questions.

[InquilineKea]

Oh okay - thanks so much for the responses.

I actually do tend to wait for a day in many cases since it's easy for me to say something impulsive if I reply instantly, in which case there's always a chance I'll have to send a follow-up email to correct myself.

I also delay with research-based emails since I need some more time for background reading.

But I'll keep this all in mind.

[UnlikelyGrad]

Anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 days, depending on the email's sender and subject. I try not to go more than 2 days.

[Behavioral]

ASAP except for emails I receive after 10pm. I'm usually up and sometimes next to a computer until 1 or 2am everyday, but I don't want to give the impression to professors that I am up at that time so that I don't give them the expectations that I can be bothered at that time on a regular basis. Some of my colleagues at a different school answer emails into the late hours of the night because their professors have developed that as an expectation if they have unresolved questions lingering. I'd rather not be in that situation.

[StrangeLight]

this chronicle of higher ed article may be of interest.

http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/researchcentered/2012/02/01/how-to-appear-competent-in-one-easy-step/

the one easy step to appearing competent? answering your emails quickly.

[InquilineKea]

Doesn't it depend on whether or not you're the person who wants to email them, or if the other person is the one who wants to email you?

Right now (as an undergrad), for example, it is almost always the case that I'm the person who wants to email the other person. The other person probably doesn't care that much whether I reply or not, so I often delay my replies in order to put more thought into them (so that I won't have to risk sending multiple emails to them, or sending something that I might need to retract later).

Edited February 5, 2012 by InquilineKea

[StrangeLight]

if the response requires thought, then put thought into them. if that takes a day or two, fine.

but if the response is "yes, we can move the meeting to 11 am" or "i am free on X day to take the exam" or "Y is a student in my lab and i can answer his/her questions" then just do it right away.

in grad school, most of your emails are about scheduling and clarification anyway. no sense in delaying those responses.

[Behavioral]

Basically for e-mail or any other things you may have to do:

(from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/productivity-made-simple-the-key-to-gtd-your-daily-graph-of-activity.html)