Sometimes we just need to pick up the phone and call each other to talk…

Photo:  Copyright www.businessweek.com

Text messages, emails, social networking site posts, and message board communications help us stay more connected.

But, there are certain times when less can be more.

Like when it comes to effective communication.

By the time we sift through threads of our e-conversations we probably could have just picked up the phone and called each other to talk about whatever we needed to discuss.

After all, our new Smartphones were made not only so we can calendar, text, search, calculate, and do a host of other things.

They were primarily made with our live conversations in mind.

So why are so many of us guilty of not regularly using our mobile talking devices or our landlines all that much anymore?

Some say it’s because it takes much less time to have a virtual chat or e-conversation with someone than it takes to talk live.

Really?

Remember the conversation threads mentioned earlier?

There are times when those threads get so tangled up or ripped apart we can barely decipher what the other person is really saying in their portion of the e-conversation.

And, by the time we scroll to the bottom of the screen to open a conversation every time we need to re-read and then reply; …well, more time passes by than we may realize.

If we’re honest, we also have to admit that each time we see or hear the message notification signal on the screen we click it instantly so we don’t skip a beat during the e-talk.

We just keep clicking, re-reading, and replying…clicking, re-reading, and replying…

Let’s not even talk about the misunderstandings, misinterpretations, or misreads that can happen when the threads go on for page after page after page…

Now, anyone and everyone who considers him or herself current and tech savvy appreciates the depth of technology and will often question what we ever did without all of it?

What did we do?

We picked up the phone and called each other so we could talk about whatever the issues were.

We can remember that in between our text messages, emails, social networking site posts, and message board communications… we can remember that sometimes we just need to pick up the phone and call each other to talk.

Hearing the smile and affirmation in another person’s live voice when we talk on the phone and it becomes crystal clear that what was once being misunderstood and maybe even causing some degree of anger to rise up in an e-communication is now being readily understood and greatly appreciated.

Sharon M. Biggs, M.A., is a wife, mother, and 21st Century educational leader & school district administrator who serves as Co-Chair & President of Lifeline Foundation, Inc.  This 24-year educator is also Founder, Editor, and Chief Writer of LifelineExtensions.blog.  View other published works at http://www.examiner.com/.  Contact Sharon directly for more information: smbiggs@mylifelinefoundation.org.

"Children are the globe's most precious commodity." (Terence H. Biggs, Jr. ~ 2009)