One of the top regrets people have on their death bed is that they didn’t stay in touch with friends. Life gets busy and often friends get short shrift next to family and work. Do you have friends that you can go years without seeing and yet when you’re together it feels like no time has passed? That’s the sign of an important friend.

My daughter, Marina, asked me last week, “Why do you want to look younger than you are? You’ve earned your years, why hide them?” What could I say? Our society worships youth. When we get older, especially as women, many of the messages we see in the media are that we become less valuable as we age.

What happens when your email volume (or backlog) exceeds your capacity to reply? In two words, guilt and stress.