Phones used to be connected to the wall in our homes, or if you had a wireless phone it’d take five minutes just to send a text. Remember when phones weren’t vessels for neuroticism? Those were the days.

At least back then, people weren’t expected to be available for conversation all day. If a phone call was missed, it would be assumed that people simply weren’t home and they would call back later. Even in the early days of cell phones, messages and calls were kept short and sweet due to limited data plans.

The constant access people today have to one another isn’t normal or healthy. The nagging feeling to check locations or to fall asleep on the phone shouldn’t be either.

It’s been said time and time again, but it’s true – there’s more to life than a cell phone. Racking up an eight-hour facetime call is nothing to brag about. It’s easy when half of the time is spent sitting in silence to the point where you might as well not be on the phone at all.

Also, when you update someone on everything as soon as it happens, what is there to speak about when finally face-to-face?

Not responding within a few minutes, let alone hours, isn’t a big deal. Texting habits aren’t indicative of someone’s character, it’s how they act in real life. 

If someone, including a partner, requires frequent phone check-ins, perhaps that relationship isn’t worth it. After all, how is trust built if there’s no chance of being an individual?

Giving people time to breathe and be with themselves is important to foster healthy and secure relationships. Being together 24/7, either in person, online or on the phone, is a recipe for disaster and unhealthy codependency.

Texting someone shouldn’t be a full time job. Schedule an in-person hangout, or just get back to them another time.

Everyone with a cell phone should learn the true power of saying “TTYL!”