Let’s be honest. We’ve all seen a text message come in and thought to ourselves, “Ugh, I’ll answer that later.”
Then, when “later” comes, responding feels like trying to lift a boulder with a pair of chopsticks. Really, it should be simple. Texting requires only your hands and some sort of complete thought.
But why does texting feel so exhausting sometimes? I think it actually has little to do with the act of texting, and more to do with our dread and, frankly, burnout from constant availability.
Yes, I am a writer, and yes, I’m complaining about texting — you can laugh.
Nowadays, we’re expected to be reachable at all times — in the morning, at work, at home and even when we’re asleep. And it’s not just to certain people — we’re supposed to be on-call to absolutely anyone.
My brain seems to have subconsciously chosen a select few friends and loved ones who I truly enjoy texting. I find myself texting these people throughout the day without thinking twice about it. But for others, I find myself procrastinating sending a simple “Yes” response. 
And it’s not that I don’t enjoy talking to those people. In fact, I could have a hard time responding to some of my dearest friends, but simultaneously want to hang out the very next day.
It’s true, we can choose to ignore certain people — perhaps those who we don’t otherwise enjoy. But in a time when in-person societal rules have successfully bled into our digital norms, this probably isn’t a good idea. Unless, of course, we actually want to send a signal to the receiver that we don’t want to speak to them, which is unfortunately warranted sometimes.
But also, those rules aren’t quite the same when it comes to texting. To me, virtual communication requires another level of tone evaluation. It’s easy to alter our tone and facial expressions in person, but an otherwise funny text message can easily come across as offensive, when presented to the wrong audience.
Really, texting is like the center of a Venn diagram. It’s almost like normal communication, but with added layers of ambiguity. And boy, I do not enjoy that.
Look, if you’re reading this and searching for some sort of solution, I promise I’m in the same boat as you. My best piece of advice is to respond immediately to eliminate the anticipation that makes the simple task of responding seem so complicated.
Maybe we’re not bad texters. Maybe we’re just tired of the texting hamster wheel.
Professionally Unprofessional is a recurring Collegian column by Anahid Valencia, a second-year student pursuing a career in journalism.
