Practice These Texting Habits for a Healthier and Happier Year

Even if establishing healthier texting habits wasn't your new year's resolution, we think it's always a good idea to take a step back to better understand the relationship you have with your phone.

While there are times that spending the whole day bouncing between text chains with friends, family and your crush can be exhilarating, there are others when it can become draining and dread-inducing, feeling like work instead of socialization. If you've found yourself in the latter category lately, below are a few texting habits you can start practicing for a healthier and healthier year.

Text With Intention

We get the inclination to text people just because you're bored, but if you start things off with an uninspired "Hey" or "What's up?," you're unlikely to stir up a thrilling conversation that'll actually bust your boredom. One good place to start is to always have a reason to text someone. Maybe you want to set up some time to actually hang out, or you just want to share a funny meme or video that make you think of the other person. When you really have nothing to say to someone, it often shows, so try to always text with intention to establish better relationships with the people you care about.

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Also read about: 10 Responses for When Your Crush Texts You 'WYD?'

 

Be Authentic

We can all be guilty of being a little fake from time to time, especially because it's easier to pretend to be something you're not in text form. In the long run, though, trying to impress people just sets you both up for disappointment. Instead of faking interest in something you know nothing about, we suggest being curious. Rather than pretending you already know all about something, ask questions and get the other person to open up and share more about it. Maybe you still won't be enthralled by the topic, but a little kindness and an open mind can go a long way.

 

Don't Read Too Much Into Messages

We can't be the only ones who've ever gotten ourselves worked up over text messages, only to find out later that the sender didn't intend what we read into it at all. It's so important to remember that texts are horrible at conveying tone, and even the right punctuation and emojis can only do so much to ensure a message actually conveys what it's meant to. Misinterpretations happen all the time, so try not to read too much into ambiguous messages and hurt your own feelings over nothing. This also goes both ways, so try to be clear with your tone whenever possible.

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Also read about: How to Decode 61 Common Emojis From Your Crush

 

Be Consistent (Not Endless)

Being on your phone and texting everyone all day, every day, is bound to set you up for burnout and exhaustion. Instead, try to get on a consistent (but not endless) texting schedule with those you message regularly. Maybe you don't want to respond to everyone the second you wake up, and instead give yourself a moment to decompress and have breakfast or get ready for the day before you reply. Perhaps you put your phone away during work or school, texting back during your lunch hour and once you finish your day out. Of course, if someone's going through something and they need your undivided attention, we understand having a longer convo where you can focus on them and their needs. However, if it seems like this person always needs to be chatting with you 24/7, it may be necessary to speak with them about setting some ground rules for a healthier back and forth.

 

Set Some Ground Rules for Yourself

Often, it's healthy to set ground rules for yourself to avoid excessive texting and social media use. Maybe you don't want to message back after bedtime or before a certain time in the morning. Whether you keep these to yourself or share them with other people is fully up to you. You can send quick "Off to work, have a great day!" and "Heading to bed, hope you sleep well," messages to kindly but firmly let them know you'll be away for a while. Also don't be afraid to use the Do Not Disturb, Sleep, Personal and Work functions on your phone to limit alerts when you need to focus on other things.

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Also read about: 6 Times It's Okay to Leave Someone on Read

 

Remember to Have a Life Outside Your Phone

When we caught up in constantly, mindlessly texting people, it's easy to accidentally let other stuff fall to the wayside. Every once in a while, you should take stock of your priorities and make sure that you don't forget about the other important stuff, like work or school, your social life, hobbies, fitness, rest and even eating and hygiene. Remember that you do not need to have your phone in your hand 24/7. Spending all of your time waiting for texts can also contribute to scrolling social media for hours without realizing it, which can leave you feeling drained and unsatisfied. As much as you might feel that you need to respond to someone the second you get a text, you're just a person, and it's not reasonable that you drop everything else. If someone does expect this from you, that's not very healthy, either.

 

Want to start someone's day on the right note? Click HERE for 15 of our favorite "good morning" texts.