three day rule

The "three day rule" is an outdated piece of dating technology popularized by such films as "Swingers." It is a seemingly sensible yet often unrealistic tactic. The "three day rule" is a rule to prevent a man from appearing desperate or needy after attaining a girl's phone number that he (just) met. Following this rule, you are to wait 3 days before calling in order to create suspense and appear non-needy. The truth is, it is far better to call sooner but to make shorter calls. This way you slowly but surely integrate yourself into the girl's life, and by ENDING THE CALLS YOURSELF instead of waiting for conversation to dry out, you eliminate any signs of desperation. If you wait 3 days, you may have lost emotional momentum and it may be harder for her to recall the attraction she felt, depending on how well you did when you first met! A far better tactic to create suspense, for example, would be to send a text message instead telling the girl you will call her at 4:21 on Tuesday (or some other EXACT time), but actually call her at 4:30 that day. None of this is to say the "three day rule" is completely wrong; however, it should definitely not be followed dogmatically.