14 Comments
User's avatar
Carissa Mae's avatar

I definitely believe that we were not meant for 24/7 communication and availability. And I don't think you should have to apologize for setting boundaries and not being available to everyone all of the time. It's kind of a ridiculous ask when you really think about it—to be available and "online" all of the time.

Expand full comment
Allie Smith's avatar

It’s so ridiculous! It’s odd as a society how we’ve carved that expectation in a relatively short amount of time. Here’s to slower connections 🫶

Expand full comment
Caroline Beuley's avatar

I am the same way, and it’s only recently that I’ve stopped feeling guilty about it!

Expand full comment
Allie Smith's avatar

It’s so nice to just finally admit that it’s too much isn’t it? 😂

Expand full comment
Harriet Toole's avatar

Glad I found this piece - I relate massively! 24/7 communication is so overwhelming. And bizarrely, I find myself feeling guilty for being on my phone too much, yet I’m always the person responding to messages late with the classic “Omg sorry I missed this!”. Make it make sense 😭

Really like your writing style, I will have to check out more 😊

Expand full comment
Allie Smith's avatar

Thank you so much Harriet! Totally with you with the being on the phone but not responding, I put it down to different levels of brain power!

Expand full comment
Harriet Toole's avatar

Oh that's such a good point - the things that require less brain energy are unfortunately far easier to focus on via our phones! (I'm looking at you Instagram 👀)

Expand full comment
Annabel Preston's avatar

Such a hard relate!! Love this Allie <3

Expand full comment
Allie Smith's avatar

Thank you so much! So glad to know I’m not alone!

Expand full comment
Michelle's avatar

Constant connection is my biggest fear 😂 I had a chat about this with my friends a few months ago to set boundaries and expectations, as I find it so overwhelming to see notifications coming in. I pretty much only see the ones that mention me in WhatsApp, and everything else is muted until I personally tap in for a big replying session.

Expand full comment
Allie Smith's avatar

Glad it's not just me, the overwhelm of the notifications is wild. I keep getting trolled by the algorithm showing me videos moaning about 'the friend who takes too long to text back' which doesn't help 🥲 it's allll just too much!

Expand full comment
Saanvi Bhatia's avatar

Thank you for writing this post! I wonder how life was like without all this constant communication. Everyone is always on their phones and no one seems to notice the world outside of the phone.

Expand full comment
Noém's avatar

Someone finally put it into words !!

I can’t even count the number of times I felt bad for not responding and then sending an ‘I’m sorry’ even if I didn’t really feel like I should be sorry !

I’ve recently found out that scheduling phone calls to keep up with my friends’ lives was so much more effective and far less taxing than texting.

Thank you for this piece, it was really important for me to read :)

Expand full comment
Katharina's avatar

I can agree to all of this. On top of feeling that I have to be connected to friends and family at all times, my job also comes with that - I work in a social media agency so being on my phone to see what's new on social is an everyday thing. And on top of that, clients expect me to be available at all times, catering to their every need. I just don't believe that we are made for this.

Expand full comment