Uh-oh, Santa's Inbox Is Full!

On our minds

At PLASTARC, we're fans of quality over quantity. We've written about how less can be more when it comes to marketing, brainstorming, and the services or products you offer. MIT researchers recently noted that there's an optimal size for data sets—and it isn't necessarily "bigger." The famous wardrobe-cum-uniform of Steve Jobs illustrates an attempt to eliminate the stress of too many options, thereby reducing decision-making fatigue. This is the season when we're all weighed down by the expectations of loved ones and even acquaintances—a pressure made worse by the sheer volume of daily communications we contend with.

British anthropologist Robin Dunbar posits that, due to the size and evolution of the human brain, we are only capable of having cohesive relationships with 150 people. But common sentiment implies that more is better, that we should all be more communicative, more social, and squeeze in more face time. Maybe "more" is too much. Americans already check their phones nearly 200 times a day, about once every 5 minutes while awake. Meanwhile, knowledge workers spend an average of 88% of their workweek communicating. A relentless pace that has left much of the workforce feeling overwhelmed by both legitimate communication and digital noise.

Too much communication can lead to cognitive overload. This time of year, there's an extra sense of urgency: connecting with family and friends, shopping and cooking, finishing everything we've started in 2025 before New Year's Eve! Being in constant communication—with everyone about everything—is stressing us out. Want an inexpensive vacation? Just turn off your phone! In study after study, people experience increased well-being after taking breaks from social media and smartphones.

Not only do we now have more communication, but we are doing so in even more channels. We haven't figured out how and when to use them, so the result is chaotic and hard on our brains. (For a humorous interlude, check out one of our all-time favorite books: When Parents Text.) Strong relationships, both personal and professional, aren't built on more communication; they're built on more effective, intimate communication and more shared experiences.

We've argued that hybrid is harder than being fully in-office or remote, and part of the solution is to be more intentional—about everything. Wherever you're working from, the choice needs to be rational and justified, not rote. Some tasks are more suited to in-person collaboration. Others, such as deep-focus tasks, may be better suited to a home office. Similarly, we need to be more intentional about relationship-building in work and in family.

At the office, or in home-life, there should be a method to the "madness"—a reason that you're driving nine hours to see family, taking a commuter rail into the city to meet a colleague for coffee, sending 100 LinkedIn messages (to use your full InMail allotment, of course). Each interaction, and our location, should be thoughtfully chosen—obligation or convention is rarely sufficient.

This bustling season of (mandatory) merriment, don't do all the things—do the right things for you and those most important to you. If family holidays stress you out, visit during a less intense time of year. Skip the parties that you're not genuinely excited about. Give yourself the gift of less: less urgency about non-emergency situations, less pressure to do the expected thing. Sometimes the key to being emotionally present is being less physically present. In the words of confessional-rocker Courtney Barnett, "Nobody Really Cares if You Don't Go to the Party." Then, when you make the effort to get together in person, put the phone away.

From the archives

Journey with us through the ghosts of newsletters past! Last December we were excited about the gift economy and how it strengthens relationships. In 2022, we championed the hidden value of an argument, which might warrant a second read, if you're planning to sit around a table with family this season.

Before that, we focused on reusing and recycling in gifting and how to establish new, digital-forward traditions. Nine Decembers ago, we published our very first newsletter, on a topic PLASTARC has continued to cover since: our bodies are sensors.

We'll leave you with two gems from 1981's deep cuts: "Under Pressure," an anytime-anthem that Queen and David Bowie teamed up to create, and "Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses, which could be considered the introverts' holiday anthem.