Texting back takes patience. Desperate people with nothing to do in their lives text back right away, because they have nothing better to do. But if you have your life together, then you don’t have time to text back the second someone texts you. Why? Because you’re at work, or at the gym or simply busy taking care of business. If you have nothing better than to look at your phone every ten seconds to reply to texts, then you have big problems you need to resolve.

Having explained this, the right time to text back depends on the urgency of your goal. If a girl texts you “Hi” – that’s not urgent. She’s probably bored and just texted you for attention.

Now if you get a text from a girl that reads “Come over. I want to see you.” Now we’re talking urgent.

Learn the differences: Texts that require a call to action are texts that you can consider responding sooner than later. Everything else does not require your immediate attention. Don’t get caught responding to meaningless texts from people with nothing better to do than to send you a message.

It’s important that you don’t get impatient and desperate. Because then you’ll end up texting someone too soon. Wait it out. If you not responding to a text right away makes that person lose interest in you, then they weren’t interested in the first place. Be patient and make your texts be worth something.

Speaking of timelines, you can respond to a non-urgent text anywhere after 2 hours to 24 hours from receiving it. If you can wait even longer, like a day or two, then do it, and see good results.

An urgent text from a girl will depend on how bad you want the girl, but a good timeline is 15 minutes to two hours. The longer you make her wait, the happier she’ll be when she receives your reply. She will probably text you back right away. Then you start the waiting period once again.

Also, don’t ask questions on text. You’re opening yourself for not receiving a response. Treat each text like if it’s the last text that you’ll be sending that person.

The main point is to wait and really think of your reply. Take your time. The more you rush, the more desperate you’ll seem. Nothing sooner than 15 minutes. And if you have the discipline, and want really good results, then don’t respond at all, and watch how you might get another text or a possible phone call. Be patient and find a hobby so you’re not worried waiting for texts.