How to Keep in Touch With Friends and Loved Ones – 9 Tips
It can be tough to keep in touch with friends and loved ones, especially if they live far away. But there are plenty of ways to make it happen, and most are pretty easy!
This article discusses the benefits of staying in touch and provides nine tips on how to keep in touch with friends effectively.
The Benefits of Keeping in Touch With Friends
Studies have shown that close relationships are essential to happiness and life satisfaction.
There are many benefits of keeping in touch. Close friendships can help reduce stress and anxiety and improve your overall health. For example, people with strong social support systems tend to have lower blood pressure and longer lifespans.
Knowing you have friends and loved ones who care about you is very reassuring. Staying connected, even when you aren’t physically around those you care about, helps you feel a part of something bigger than yourself. It also prevents feelings of isolation and improves your overall mental well-being.
As we grow older, it becomes increasingly difficult to meet people and make new friends, so it is important to keep in touch with the ones we already have.
Sadly, we often let our friendships slide. We get busy with work, school, or kids, and we don’t spend the time to keep in touch as we should. We think that we’ll call our best friend next week, but before we know it, months have gone by.
Fortunately, technology has made it a lot easier to maintain a long-distance friendship. Talking on the phone, sending a text message, and connecting on social media are easy ways to keep in touch. Sharing news with friends and family can be as easy as a few clicks!
While technology has made staying in touch easier, it’s important to remember the personal touch that makes relationships feel special. Here are nine tips for keeping in touch while putting in the necessary effort to be a better friend.
9 Tips for Keeping in Touch With a Personal Touch
Talk Face-To-Face
Long-distance friendships have benefited from the rise of video-chatting technology like FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom. With a video call, it’s like you’re in the same room as your long-distance friend, even if you’re thousands of miles apart.
The ability to see each others’ faces makes the conversation much more enjoyable and personal. Moreover, being live on video shows your loved ones how important they are to you since you give them your full, undivided attention.
Video calls can also be delightful. Here are some ideas for your next call:
- Have a virtual happy hour to watch TV shows or movies together
- Play online games
- Enjoy a virtual dinner
- Go on a virtual walk
The options are endless!
Meet Up in Person
Always choose to meet up whenever possible. If you live nearby, or if one of you is willing to travel, spend time together in person. This can be for lunch, coffee, dinner, or to hang out.
You can also schedule a weekend getaway—meet somewhere halfway with your long-distance friends—to catch up on each other’s lives and create new memories. There are so many fun things you can do!
Make It a Habit
Phone calls to your long-distance friends can quickly become a weekly tradition! Give yourself something to look forward to by scheduling time into your week to catch up and chat with your closest friends and family. You can set aside 20 minutes each day or an hour each week to talk. Even if you’re busy, you can talk while driving to and from errands or cleaning up at home.
Get together regularly with your best friends who live in the same town or nearby. Arrange a standing date every 2-3 months to catch up over coffee or a meal. Be the one who arranges these dates (to guarantee they happen!), but feel free to delegate tasks to ensure your loved ones stay invested.
Use Social Media
Stay connected by posting updates on social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram) for your loved ones to see. But remember that everything you post is essentially public, so be mindful not to post anything that could hurt someone’s feelings.
Send Snail Mail
Be old school and mail a handwritten letter or postcard instead of only communicating online. Receiving something in the mail from a good friend who is thinking of you is always a pleasant surprise! Include printed photos (e.g., of happy memories) if you have them.
Celebrate Birthdays and Holidays
Send holiday and birthday cards and gifts to your friends and family members throughout the year (our guide to holiday card messages will help you find just the right words). Make sure to remember major birthday milestones and important events in their lives.
Focus on quality over quantity – a heartfelt message on your friend’s birthday will mean more than an impersonal gift. (See our list of birthday wishes for thoughtful birthday message ideas.)
A self-care gift basket, a handmade card from the kids, or tickets to a special event are all thoughtful ways to show someone you care. If you don’t have much time to shop for a gift, consider gifting them an experience like a spa day or take-out dinner from their favorite restaurant (more ideas here!).
Remember Important Dates
Remember your long-distance friend’s special occasions and let them know you are thinking about them on those days. It is incredibly heartwarming when someone remembers a special date that is important to you. Your friends remember these kind actions because you show them they matter and that you genuinely care.
Set Reminders
Don’t let staying in touch slip your mind. Set reminders on your phone or calendar to help you remember to keep in touch with loved ones despite the physical distance. This can be a daily or weekly reminder to maintain contact. Make sure to follow through on your reminders and reach out and connect!
Just Reach Out
If you are thinking about an old friend, reach out! It might feel awkward initially, but most people are happy to hear from and reminisce with their old friends.
How to Keep in Touch With the Do Happy App
Keeping track of your important people and their special dates can be tedious if you do it manually. You have to write down the information in a calendar or on sticky notes and keep track of it yourself or set individual reminders on your phone. You must keep the information updated and not lose or misplace it, which can be problematic over time.
Important People Organizer and Reminders
The Do Happy App makes it easy to keep track of all of your loved ones and their special occasions.
The app’s Important People Organizer is an aesthetically pleasing index of your loved ones that you can update and have readily available wherever you go. Important dates you add automatically trigger push notification reminders, which means you will never forget about your loved ones’ special dates again!
For each loved one, you can:
- Add their picture
- Input their birthdays and important dates, including their children’s birthdays and when their loved ones passed away
- Stay accountable: inputted dates become completable Do Happy Reminders tasks (for you to save the memory to the app with your description and photos)
- Set additional reminders
- Remove dates that are no longer relevant
Special features of the Important People Organizer:
- Sort people by relationship type (e.g., family, friends, neighbors, colleagues)
- Add unlimited notes (e.g., their pets’ names, their favorite things, any memorable tidbits)
- View your completed tasks with each person
Relationship Maintenance Tasks
Relationship maintenance (also known as relationship cultivation) is one of the three pillars of happiness in the a little dose of happy framework. It focuses on two key elements of happiness: devotion and celebration. (Make sure to read about our elements of happiness if you haven’t already!)
During the week, the Do Happy App presents two relationship maintenance tasks to help you keep in touch with your loved ones. One task more broadly instructs you to reach out; for example, “Meet up with a friend for lunch.” The other task directs you to contact one of the people you listed during the app setup as someone with whom you want to stay more closely connected.
Relationship maintenance Do Happy tasks and reminders and the Important People Organizer are included in your subscription to the app. Let us help you strengthen your relationships with your loved ones by helping you remember their special occasions and keep in touch!
Final Thoughts
Finding ways to keep in touch with friends and loved ones is very important. Regular contact with close friends and family can keep you connected and supported and improve your overall mental and physical health.
Don’t let staying in touch slip your mind!
Use the Do Happy App’s Important People Organizer and relationship maintenance tasks to help you keep track of your important relationships and stay accountable for reaching out. Let the Do Happy App be your reminder that staying connected is an essential part of a happy life!
Don’t wait! Download the app today and start strengthening your relationships with those who matter most to you.
