A couple of years ago, at the beginning of my wanting to “scale” emdash, I got unreasonably busy. I had nearly no time for anyone. And I spent every waking minute either doing work or preparing to do work — I loved it, but that’s not the story here.
It was also during this time that we got an office in Anna Nagar, which is about 15 kilometres from where I live. The morning commute was fantastic, I listened to books and podcasts, and learned so much in the process. The evenings though, got really tiring. I couldn’t listen to anything with focus, because my brain was pretty fried.
So, I began calling people. I spoke to my brother very often, but he caught my trick. He got bored of being teased by me everyday and I needed new scapegoats. And that’s when I started maintaining a list: That friend I once loved so much, but don’t speak to any longer, not because something happened, just life; the mother-in-law I couldn’t make time to call; the distant uncle, who bought me the first computer I killed by inserting a virus-laden floppy disk into; and so on.
This list reminded me of all the people I could call when I felt bored or had 30 minutes to spare. In an ideal world, this list should always be in my head. Well, my world is certainly not ideal. So, the organisational wizard in me found another means to the end.
The point is, if you ever tell yourself, “I’m not good at staying in touch,” keep a list. 🙂