It's important to understand when it's appropriate to text, and when you should pick up and talk on the phone. There's a time for both forms of communication, no matter how much you hate talking on the phone.
Text if: You Just Went on a Date
Let's angle this one towards the men, although it can definitely apply to women as well. Men -- no woman wants to get home from a date with you only to have you calling her right away. That's a surefire way to instantly scare her away. At most, you can send her a text and let her know you had a great time with her. But the best approach here is to let her be right after the date, and wait until the next day to text her about the date. You don't want to seem clingy or attached after the first date.
Call if: You're Fighting
GiphyIf you are fighting with someone you care about, don't waste your time texting. No matter if it's your friend, family member, or significant other, you need to talk it out on the phone. Ideally, you would hash it out in person, but oftentimes this isn't possible for people due to their circumstances, so a phone call is the next best thing. If you're fighting over text, you can be sure there will be miscommunication and things will be taken the wrong way, making it even worse. Just pick up the phone and talk through it as much as you can until you can see each other in person.
Text if: It's Casual Work/School Conversation
There's no need to call your fellow students about what you missed in class. Just shoot them a text and give them the chance to put together notes and send them to you. Texting is also great for work situations when you need to communicate on a daily basis with your coworkers. There's some great work texting programs like Slack that make casual communication way easier. If you needed to pick up the phone and make a call every time you had a small question or concert about work or school, you'd get nothing done. Texting also allows you to notify a ton of people at once, which is great for sudden changes to schedule that everyone will need to know about.
Call if: You Miss Someone
There's nothing more impersonal than a text conversation where you ask what's new with someone, and they respond "nothing much, you?". It's hard to catch up with someone over texting because there's no sense of emotion at all. If you miss someone, whether it's your parents or your friend at another school, pick up the phone and call them. You'll end up talking way longer and it'll almost feel like you're with them again.
Texting is insanely convenient and we've become so comfortable with it that we have sacrificed quality conversation on the phone. Make sure you know when it's appropriate to text someone, and when you should just pick up the phone and call them.
