The 5 minute phone call
A couple of months ago one of my best friends emailed me a brilliant idea:
THE FIVE MINUTE PHONE CALL
I’m not sure where she originally found it, but I have since used the concept several times. We may not have time for a 2 hour call to catch up on everything from the new sneakers we bought to the fight one of us had with our husbands to what we were eating for dinner. With a life of serious multitasking and overpacked schedules it is simply impossible.
Instead, carve out just 5 minutes with your friend to talk on the phone and have a meaningful conversation. You will connect again, and there is no pressure of the long winded phone call. We now talk about twice a week which is two times more than we did before.
Since almost all of my closest friends live far away from me, I love this idea. It really works, and it stops the phone tag that inevitably starts as you both try to find the time for a long conversation. Try it and let me know what you think.
Any other tips for keeping your friends close? We used to do long email chains, but now we don’t even have time for that.
13 Responses to “The 5 minute phone call”
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My best friend and I have what we refer to as “our morning friend” time. She lives in Illinois and is a teacher at a high school and has to be at work by 7:15 at the latest however she is usually there before 7. I live in Pa and I have to be at work between 7:30-8:00 so about 3-4 times a week we talk on the way to work. I have blue tooth in my car and she puts me on speaker as she finishes getting ready and out the door to school. It is usually only 10-20 minutes but I really miss those calls in the summer when she is on vacation.
I have a friend in Washington state and I’m in Minnesota. We both always have a commitment on Thursdays evenings, so we have made a pack to call each other between the end of the commitment and the end of the day. We both leave our phones on and sometimes it’s a “I’ve got 5 minutes” and othertimes we’re really lifting each other up and an hour later we’re done. Either way, I know Thursdays I for sure get to talk to my friend, if not more often during the week.
I also dedciated my driving time to friendship time. Whether it’s 5 min drive and or a 20 minute one, I call someone just to touch base. Sometimes things get deep and we agree to a time and pick it up later in the day or whatever.
I am a true believer that you make time for what’s important.
WONDERFUL concept- especially for Moms!!
Love this idea! I usually put off calling my friends long enough that we need to have a two-hour catch-up session. So then I feel like I have to wait until I have a huge block of time to call them, and then the problem gets worse! I’ll have to try this for sure.
My friends and I text a lot. Silly things like do I get lemon or lime in my coke today?
I am also a letter writer do I send mail
My best friend and I pretty much only talk in the car. Sometimes that means we talk for hours while on a long car trip (seriously, I recently drove from AL to KY and we probably talked for 3 of the 6 hours) or the 10 minutes it takes to get from her house to Target.
It all started a few years ago when, tired of playing phone tag, we studied our schedules and figured the best time to talk was driving home from work. We aim to talk every day, but that doesn’t always happen. But we still manage at least twice a week. We’ve known each other for 8 years and I think our friendship is stronger now, living 14 hours apart, than it was when we lived in the same room.
I LOVE this idea. I feel like especially since having my baby (but, to be honest, even before that) it’s been so hard to keep up with my good friends– none of whom live in my current city. The idea of having to set aside an hour or two for a phone call intimidates me, so I don’t make the call at all. Five minutes (or ten or fifteen) would be literally perfect– enough time to catch up, but not so long that it seems like a major time investment (which, let’s be honest, I can’t commit to with a four month old!!). LOVE this idea.
this is brilliant. I guess I’d be worried that someone would get offended if I was like, “I can talk to you… for five minutes.” Lol!
I really only talk to one person on the phone, my BFF, and yeah… that’s a 2-hour phone fest. we’ve switched to skype, so we can have “coffee together” or similar, but it’s true that the no contact for months vs. interminable gab fest is pretty unworkable and is basically the communication style I have with most of my faraway friends. I sometimes Gchat with people, but I find that time consuming or dangerously distracting from work. So yes, cool solution. i have now written a blog about your blog.
This is a great idea. I have been so guilty of not keeping up with my friends the way I used to. I used to dedicate so much of my night to keep up with different friends by phone. Now, with the baby, I’m lucky to get a moment to myself, let alone with my husband.
I always feel that when I do call, I should have an hour or two set aside to not short change my friends. I think this is a great idea – especially when both sides know about it. I’m also one for email but eventually I trail off…
This is a wonderful idea, and I literally avoid phone calls sometimes because I know they will take too long…I should just DO this! xo!