Maintaining Relationships!
"10 Tips to Build Strong Relationships"
by Marcia Ramsland, The Organizing Pro
Think of the five strongest relationships in your life right now. How many of these people will you see this week? How many will you talk to on the phone? Or do you e-mail to keep in touch? It might be rare to see all five friends in one week. But to stay connected, there has to be face-to-face time and other ways to stay in contact.
Ten Ways to Make Time for Relationships
1. Make calls while doing mundane tasks. One busy mother calls a friend each night while she washes dishes. A busy teacher calls her elderly parents each morning on her drive to work.
2. Leave a regular lunch time open. A minister was often asked to get together with new people, so he set aside Tuesday and Thursday lunch hours for anyone who approached him at a weekend service requesting an appointment.
3. E-mail appreciation. At Thanksgiving, one lady e-mailed me about how much my book Simplify Your Life had changed her life. She said, "In taking stock of who to thank this year, I wanted to let you know you were one of the top ten, even if we've never met. Thank you!"
4. Send "thinking of you" notes. When I was a child, my aunt Helen wrote me a note with a joke or pleasant thought every Monday when she got to work. Perhaps that's why she's one of my favorite aunts.
5. Send a Christmas letter. Make new friends but keep the old by sending Christmas cards. This is a golden way to hold on to those past and long-distance relationships. Good friends from the past appreciate the yearly check-in.
6. Do something together. Build a friendship or keep one going by doing something together that you both enjoy. Join a gym, plan a walking schedule, or go to a conference together. It's the quickest way to spend quality time with a new or old friend.
7. Join a group. Look for people who share one of your favorite hobbies and make some new friends. When you camp or cook together in a class, you generally attract like-minded people.
8. Volunteer to serve. Whether you're a person who is usually in charge or one who typically follows, try something new. Jump in and serve as an usher for a sporting event, concert, or play, or plan a luncheon at work. This gives you a chance to make new friends and to find out things about people you already know.
9. Vacation together. Organize a spa weekend for women of all ages, or a golf outing, or a couple of days at a resort. A weekend away with friends provides quality time to catch up.
10. Do something social each week. Though it's nice to relax alone, it's also important to connect with other people. Plan a social event with someone else once a week, or call a friend you haven't talked with in a while.
Right now list your "Five Fave" Friends you want to spend time with. Are they in your summer calendar? If not, add them now.
(This excerpt is from chapter 16 "Take Time for Relationships" in "Simplify Your Time: Stop Running and Start Living!")