Dear Prudence,
In the first weeks after the pandemic first began, I panicked and reached out to many old friends and friend groups, setting up Zoom calls to check in. These were generally fine, if a little awkward because of the videoconferencing setup. However, as the weeks have passed, I’ve found myself wanting to go back to my old introverted ways. Each of these friends and friend groups have already set up multiple recurring checkins (some as frequent as twice a week) and now it’s to the point where I spend all day on Zoom for work and then again for multiple hours each night. I’m tired of it. I’m glad my friends are OK, but I’m not interested in maintaining these checkins. Is it rude to cancel? Would it be insensitive to their mental health? What’s an appropriate way to back out of a commitment that I was the one who initiated?
—All Zoomed Out