One new tactic: I walk our dog at approximately 8:30 every night. I used to be mildly annoyed by this, treating it as a chore to do before I could get back home

One new tactic: I walk our dog at approximately 8:30 every night. I used to be mildly annoyed by this, treating it as a chore to do before I could get back home slink into my chair, and enjoy the rest of the evening. I recently purchased a pair of Airpods, and having high-quality USB headphones on me at all times has changed the way I think about phone calls. I have a list of about 12 people (parents, brother, long-time friends that live in different cities now), that I'll call randomly during that walk. If they pick up, great. If not, I just go to the next one. At this point, most of them know that I may just call them while walking the dog, and that they're under no obligation to pick up. The end result is 2-3 times a week, I spend 30+ minutes nurturing a relationship with someone who is important to me, but who I don't see face-to-face often. And my dog gets a longer walk because of it.