A few weeks ago I blogged about my realization that I’m not that good at keeping in touch with friends and family members who live far away and aren’t active online.
I decided to try being more conscientious about occasionally reaching out to them this summer. I’m not a fan of talking on the phone, so I decided to use other methods of communication instead: cards, postcards, and email.
It’s been so long since I regularly sent out snail mail that doing so felt about as ordinary as taking your cat on a walk. Sure, you can do it (and the cat might even love it!), but it’s one of those things that’s never been part of my routine.
The response has been warm though. Getting mail that isn’t a bill or useless advertisement is nice, and I suspect that it’s even better for people who grew up before the Internet changed so many of the ways in which we communicate with one another. When I’m old I hope my nephew and niece understand my love for texting and emails even if they’ve moved on to something else.
I’m much better at responding to emails, but even there I sometimes get a few weeks behind. (Although I do reply to everything eventually!) It’s not that I don’t love hearing from people, it’s just one of those tasks that’s very easy to put off until tomorrow.
My goal for the next month is to respond to every email in a week or less. Eventually I’d like to cut that down to a day or two at most, but I thought I’d tackle my response times in stages.
What about you? How have you been keeping up with your loved ones so far this summer?