THIS IS ME!! I find myself with about 30 unread voice notes, because all my friends are voice noters, and I never open them because I am never in a position to listen to twenty minutes of chat, and then remember everything they said to reply to every single part. I'd honestly rather a blunt text message and make the effort to actually leave the house and get a coffee because texting is exhausting. I don't want to text anyone back, I simply cannot be bothered. So glad you wrote this, so glad it's not just me. This is great Katie!!!
Okay I feel seen. VERY seen. I think the issue these days is the sheer volume of messages. God forbid what it must be like for parents managing the conversations and schedules of their little ones. What I find helps is treating my WhatsApp inbox like my email inbox, responding to the urgent stuff first then triaging the rest. I've also let go of the guilt of late responses to messages. Texts, for me, are a means to an end. I need to be present in my life and get my s*** done in the day first, only then I can process everything else. Also, just call me if it's urgent. Thank you Katie for sharing! X
I’m not this person (I weirdly LOVE replying to messages as it helps me feel closer to my friends, and am definitely guilty of a podcast-length voicenote or two) but I have friends who are very firmly in this camp, so this was immensely helpful in understanding the thought process and deeper feelings around not responding (which I have been known to take too personally at times). Thank you for sharing!
Katie, I love this - it's so well-written. This reminds me so much of *my* early 30s! I started to write you a reply, but it turned into a post - I hope you don't mind, and even more, I hope it helps! (I'm absolutely rooting for your peace.) ♥
So I found my self here on this post from your note about my post and I have never related so hard to ANYTHING in my life. And the longer you leave it the more guilty you get because it’s like “how could I possibly explain that it’s taken me a month to respond to the most simple message ever”. Such a well-written piece ✨✨✨
THIS IS ME!! I find myself with about 30 unread voice notes, because all my friends are voice noters, and I never open them because I am never in a position to listen to twenty minutes of chat, and then remember everything they said to reply to every single part. I'd honestly rather a blunt text message and make the effort to actually leave the house and get a coffee because texting is exhausting. I don't want to text anyone back, I simply cannot be bothered. So glad you wrote this, so glad it's not just me. This is great Katie!!!
Okay I feel seen. VERY seen. I think the issue these days is the sheer volume of messages. God forbid what it must be like for parents managing the conversations and schedules of their little ones. What I find helps is treating my WhatsApp inbox like my email inbox, responding to the urgent stuff first then triaging the rest. I've also let go of the guilt of late responses to messages. Texts, for me, are a means to an end. I need to be present in my life and get my s*** done in the day first, only then I can process everything else. Also, just call me if it's urgent. Thank you Katie for sharing! X
I’m not this person (I weirdly LOVE replying to messages as it helps me feel closer to my friends, and am definitely guilty of a podcast-length voicenote or two) but I have friends who are very firmly in this camp, so this was immensely helpful in understanding the thought process and deeper feelings around not responding (which I have been known to take too personally at times). Thank you for sharing!
Katie, I love this - it's so well-written. This reminds me so much of *my* early 30s! I started to write you a reply, but it turned into a post - I hope you don't mind, and even more, I hope it helps! (I'm absolutely rooting for your peace.) ♥
https://open.substack.com/pub/crosssam/p/stop-replying-see-who-stays?r=3ujeok&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
So I found my self here on this post from your note about my post and I have never related so hard to ANYTHING in my life. And the longer you leave it the more guilty you get because it’s like “how could I possibly explain that it’s taken me a month to respond to the most simple message ever”. Such a well-written piece ✨✨✨