When someone asks you about a voicemail they left a month ago or you come across an email you have repeatedly avoided responding to, there’s a problem.

Almost two weeks into the new year, I am proud to report I am crushing my goal of addressing that issue. It’s not like I never responded to people, but I found that if I didn’t immediately answer there was a strong chance I would forget to get back to people.

I used to try to keep my personal email inbox to no more than 25 messages at a time because the client only showed that many items on its first page — anything after that was bound to be forgotten. About once a week I would go through and address a bunch of emails, but that only served to get me down to about 18 messages on a good day.

Right now I’m at six.

So if you leave me a voicemail, send me an email, comment here/Facebook/Twitter or even yell something as you drive by on the street — in 2011 I’m going to give you a prompt response.

Of course prompt is relative. Just like I wouldn’t expect you to respond to my 4 a.m. text, if your message comes while I am asleep (likely in the middle of the day), all bets are off. If I have to research something or craft a diplomatic answer, again, wait times may increase.

Among other things, one item I forgot about last year was the promise I made to provide a family member with helpful fantasy football information. At Thanksgiving this lapse was blamed for the less-than-stellar performance of her team.

But while I fully accept responsibility for dropping the communication ball, this incident serves to illustrate the two-way process involved here — if a reasonable response time has passed, please ask again. I may forget once, but not twice. (Ok, maybe twice, but certainly not three times).

I know you’re ready to test me, so feel free to comment below or on any of the previous posts. CJHANNAS version 2011 is ready.