Since I am a terrible person, I feel keenly every minute I spend talking to my family is another minute I *don't* have to volunteer to get the vote out or exercise or do something else constructive. I think perhaps I am incapable of empathy, but how do you force yourself to have empathy? Conundrum

You are helping your family keep going. You are helping hold them together. It's not perfect and not easy, and it's constructive.