Ten anxiety hacks for texting: what works for me
Find yourself panicking over texts? I’ve got you
3 min readApr 11, 2023
If you’re like me, you use WhatsApp. And, if you’re even more like me, the sound of a new message fills you with fear, dread, delight or unease. If that sounds weird to you, maybe I’m on edge, or maybe my social life is a bit more dramatic than yours. We’ll never know. Anyway, here’s how I use it without sobbing my eyes out in the shower afterwards.
- The archive folder is your friend. Don’t want to open the app and see, to your horror, that your friend has seen your heartfelt message and completely ignored you? Me neither. Archive. You’ll get some warning that they’ve messaged you without encountering the blue tick panic.
- Actually, if it’s too overwhelming to see whether they’ve read it at all, turn off message receipts. I need them sometimes for work but if I’m very on edge about a message, I turn off receipts. You don’t need that drama.
- Never, ever message something dramatic after 10pm. No one makes good decisions when tired and stressed and the ‘oh god no’ fairy will hit you…
