Daily needs met by communication

 

In our daily lives, we come across various situations where we need to make decisions, plan, organize and share our thoughts and ideas to be able to maintain a productive and well-functioning life. Communication is vital to ensure that. The various needs, such as physical, instrumental, relational, and identity needs are met by different methods in our day and we may consciously or subconsciously utilize these methods.

               Physical needs are those that ensure and regulate the functioning of our mind and body. This is essential to have a happy and satisfactory life. My physical needs are met simply by talking about my experiences or thoughts. Talking about an experience helps in improving mental and physical health and, hence enhancing life satisfaction in the long run. In an average day in my life, intrapersonal and interpersonal communication, and in a few cases, group communication helps me meet my physical needs. Intrapersonal communication can be useful in thinking and reflecting about my experiences and forming a thought process of how the experience affects me. It can also be beneficial in formulating new ideas and solutions to my problems, in case I have any. While intrapersonal communication is purely introspective in nature, interpersonal communication happens between two or more people, perhaps friends, family, guardians, teachers, counselors, and so on. This form of communication helps me express my thoughts and gain feedback and solutions concerning other people. Through interpersonal communication, a lot of my emotions may be expressed to others. This is essential for the proper functioning of the mind and having healthy mental and physical health.

               Instrumental needs help us get work or tasks done in our daily routine and life. These needs are met mostly by interpersonal and intrapersonal communication, although a few instances require mass communication as well. I usually give or receive orders from others that dictate a task's completion. That is where interpersonal communication comes into play. My colleagues, friends, teachers, and family members give me tasks which they expect me to complete. These are essential in the smooth execution of my day and to ensure productivity. I also tend to think, plan and organize my day. This is a form of intrapersonal communication through which I decide on how I want to get work done. Mass communication may provide me with instructions through media in the form of articles or videos which helps me do my tasks if I need help.

               Relational needs are met through interpersonal communication and group communication. This is useful for maintaining social bonds and relations. This need is beneficial in ensuring physical needs as well. I usually use interpersonal communication to express thoughts and feelings with friends, family, teachers, and so on by talking to them or giving them written messages through technology. Non-verbal forms of communication play a part here too. Body language and tone of voice constitute the majority of interpersonal communication. Talking to people in person, through text messages or emails and letters are a few ways I communicate with people and meet my relational needs.

               Most identity needs depend on intrapersonal communication. Identity needs govern our presentation to others and dictating impressions of ourselves. To ensure my identity gets portrayed in the way I desire it to, I need to think about myself, my interests, personality, and thought processes. This takes up a lot of intrapersonal communication. The next step, which needs me to represent myself depends on interpersonal communication. The words I choose, and the tone and body language I exude dictate how others perceive me and whether or not I’m portraying myself the way I wish or expect to.

               Communication hence plays a big role in our day-to-day lives to fulfill our needs. We cannot imagine a world without various forms of communication. In such a world, the majority of our needs wouldn’t be met and we would not be fully productive. Therefore, communicating and doing so effectively is beneficial in the running of our day.