In the days of smartphones, twitter, email, and text messages, letter writing can seem hopelessly outdated. But it’s an art worth bringing back and not because of some misplaced sense of nostalgia either. The writing and reception of letters will always offer an experience that modern technology cannot touch. For some, sending a letter is the next best thing to showing up personally at someone’s door. Indeed, Ink from your pen touches the stationary, your fingers touch the paper, your saliva seals the envelope. Something tangible from your world travels through machines and hands, and deposits itself in another’s mailbox. As a child there were thank you letters, of course, ruining the long weeks after Christmases and birthdays.

And postcards. Of course, the wonderful thing about email is its immediacy, but on the flip side, we get so many emails that most seem to have no more relevance to our life.

Board games entertain and bring people together through competitive and cooperative gameplay. They do not require wifi, or even electricity but have the power to connect people of all ages. While digital games require electricity or a charged battery, analog games can be played anywhere, anytime. Sitting down with the family with no interruptions may feel like an impossible thing in your home, as everyone has different schedules which pushes them to opposite directions.

But playing games with your kids, or with your friends, is a perfect way to spend time together and build learning skills at the same time. Playing a board game after a family dinner is an excellent way to get closer to your family, while strengthening your family bond.

In our stressed out, overly scheduled world, every adult needs to make more time to play. Games of all kinds are a great way to relax and have fun, and analog games, in particular, make for some especially beneficial and rewarding playtime for all the reasons mentioned above. You’ll have to use your memory, logic, and imagination – traits that often atrophy in the modern world. And you’ll experience the feel-good endorphins that come from competing against, and socializing with, a group of people.

Though we send sent hundred of combined texts to each other, the art of having a good conversation is getting lost in translation. Catherine Blyth picks up on this in her book The Art of Conversation. She explains that even the phrase “we need to talk” is heard negatively. For thousands of years, Blyth explains, the core of human interaction was the good, old-fashioned, face-to-face conversation, but today we are increasingly pushing that aside — and we’re all missing out for it.

The art of conversation is a necessary skill for almost everything in life. Conversations introduce you to people, important people who could be your mentors, employers, employees, partners or friends. Without conversations as the foundation for those relationships, you’ll have a hard time building a social circle, starting a business or advancing your career.

When was the last time you actually picked up the phone and spoke to a real person? Too often in our daily lives and jobs we are forgetting the benefits of conversing with actual people in real time.

Next time you need to contact someone be it a potential employer, employee, client, friend or neighbor, instead of logging onto a website or sending an email, text or social media post why not pick up the phone or drop in for a face to face meeting and actually speak to a real live person! I assure you; you will be pleasantly reminded of some of the many benefits of the more personal approach to communication.

Why people are so afraid to leave their computers and go outside is beyond me. As we got older, people started getting more into outdoor activities again, but everyone runs back inside the second their phones die. Computer addiction is becoming increasingly common as more and more people have access to personal computers. Computer usage can be useful and productive, but if you’re a computer addict it can have serious effects on many parts of your life.

As a generation dedicated to online pursuits grows up, 10-year-olds can do fewer sit-ups and are less able to hang from wall bars in a gym. Arm strength has declined in that age group, as has their ability to grip an object firmly.

The findings, published in the child health journal Acta Paediatrica, have led to fresh concern about the impact on children’s health caused by the shift away from outdoor activities.