Over time and with more life responsibilities, I’ve found it hard to stay in touch with my network. Outside of working hours, there is always something to do around the house, from fixing stuff to going over the bills to spending time with your significant other. Those activities have a sense of urgency in them. They can easily through you off of less urgent but important matters such as socialization. 

I was reading this article when it hit me that I haven’t been in touch with my old friends and colleagues for a while. At work, I’m preaching to use automation wherever possible, so why not do this for myself; let the system remind me. While I bet there are many good tools out there for this problem, I wanted something simple yet effective for myself. 

After some thinking, I’ve found a simple Google Sheet, and an add-on script should be good enough for me. My problem is simple:

• I have contacts that I’d like to stay in touch with
• Each group of contacts requires a different cadence for connecting

The solution I came up with is a simple one:

• A sheet that holds the information about my contacts, and I can assign different categories to them
• Two additional metadata is needed: the last time the contact was selected, and the last time we connected
• A script that runs periodically, selects the candidates and sends me an email.

That is what exactly this project does. If you are interested in using it or get inspired to do your own version, check GitHub for the source code and the complete installation guide.