Why you should control your urge to respond to every text you get

A lot of you might have the habit of not getting back to texts and calls instantly and then there are few who are super quick at replying to people calling and texting them.

Which type do you think are the right ones? Obviously, the ones who are instant with their replies, right? Well, wrong. It turns out, it might not be the right way to live.

It is recommended by a health educator to set boundaries around communication as a part of coping with stress. Give yourself a loose end and know when you should say little or simply deny things. This is only a way to self-care and self-love in times like the pandemic. This lockdown must have been quite a lot for many who might have had to juggle between different house chores, with a baby in one hand and kitchen duties in the other. You can’t possibly stress yourself to be the one who replies to texts and calls instantly. And most importantly, don’t give yourself a guilt-trip when you can’t meet someone else’s expectations of texting back or calling back.

Normalize not answering instantly. It’s as simple and as important for mental peace. And you can do this without ghosting on people who care for you and who want to check on you every now and then. How you ask? By creating an intentional process that can balance out everyone’s need so that you still respect people who show care towards you.

If you’re going to be available every single time, people might worry if you aren’t once in a while. Hence, managing your expectations by letting people know that you will be accessible and when you won’t be is much better. It’s as simple as expressing your feelings and telling them that you’re feeling a certain way and so you will be slow at responding. This won’t make them worry about you and drop a few back to back calls and texts in times when you aren’t reachable. They will understand if they are informed.

Just like you have a few work ‘In a meeting, text you later.’ texts or ‘Call you back later.’ texts ready on your phone, you can create some auto-responders for your personal emails too. If you put in the effort for your professional life, you might as well put in some for your personal life too. Set up auto-replies for text messages and make your life easy. There are a lot of apps available for the same.

Draft a response that you can easily cut and paste each time someone wishes to check on you. This way, you are neither ignoring their messages nor putting yourself through stress thinking of having yet another conversation when you’re not in the mood to, or when you’re too overwhelmed with what’s going on or simply busy with life.