a system for keeping in touch.

I stumbled upon these two blog posts which outline a system to stay on top of keeping in touch with friends, family and business contacts (especially good for the latter, but I need it for the former two).

"People drift apart for many reasons. It’s perfectly understandable not to call or make an effort for people you don’t really like, but why do we let people we respect and whose company we enjoy slip away from us? The main reasons are apathy and lethargy; we don’t care enough, and we’re too lazy. Paradoxically, the more secure we feel about a person’s friendship, the less effort we’ll take in staying in touch when distance divides us."

Having a "system" to stay in touch with friends seems a little excessive, but I'm not knocking it - I need a system! Oftentimes I think about calling or emailing someone, but then I forget and when I do talk to them I feel guilty for leaving it so long. Even going through this process would be helpful:

"...you’ll first need to sit down and list all the people you want to stay in touch with. When you’ve done that, decide for each person how often you think contact would be appropriate."

Read the full post here: A system to keep in touch with people - Working on Me

He also has some advice for making that first call: Keeping in touch - emergency repair - Working on Me

Found via Ian's Messy Desk.