Don’t Answer It!

Robby

I have a love/hate relationship with the telephone. A ringing phone means business, but it’s also an interruption. Caller ID tells me who is calling so I can decide who to ignore, but that also means that I know that people are consciously ignoring me. Now with cellphones, I can reach people no matter where I am but that also means they can reach me. Like I said: love/hate.

Here’s my technique for the phone. First, I try to make an active choice about the interruptions. If I’m doing an important project that requires concentration, I turn the ringer off.  That way, messages will go to voicemail, but I can still glance at the Caller ID just in case.

If I am answering the phone, I’ll often pick up and immediately explain that I’m in the middle of something to find out if the call is urgent. Since I don’t work for the fire department, most calls are made out of convenience, not an immediate need. I’ll ask to schedule a time to call back even if it’s just in five or ten minutes.

Finally, I try to keep spontaneous calls to under five minutes. This provides subtle encouragement to the other person that they should really not interrupt people with phone calls when an email would suffice. It also helps spread the message that unplanned calls should be brief and to the point.

What do you do to make the telephone work for you?

Tags: appointments, calender, email, execution, mind-set, self-policing, setting-meetings, time-management, work stress, work-related stress