WEBVTT - Just make that call

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to just make that phone call, Particularly

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<v Speaker 1>if you are working at home these days, you can

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<v Speaker 1>save yourself all sorts of time and frustration and schedule

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<v Speaker 1>clutter by using the actual telephone feature on your phone.

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<v Speaker 1>As a bonus, as we're all engaged in social distancing,

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<v Speaker 1>hearing a human voice can be a real mood boost too.

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<v Speaker 1>Once upon a time, the only convenient way to communicate

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<v Speaker 1>with someone who wasn't right in front of you was

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<v Speaker 1>to call that person on the phone. Now, there were

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<v Speaker 1>downsides to this. A ringing phone interrupts whatever the other

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<v Speaker 1>person is doing right at the time you've chosen whether

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<v Speaker 1>this is convenient for the other person or not. So

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<v Speaker 1>asynchronous forms of communications seems like great solutions to this problem.

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<v Speaker 1>As email and texts became available, phone calls fell out

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<v Speaker 1>of favor. Indeed, many people think it might be rude

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<v Speaker 1>or presumptuous to call someone without explicit permission, like you've

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<v Speaker 1>sent a calendar invite to talk at two pm. This

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<v Speaker 1>makes sense, but the net result is that people waste

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<v Speaker 1>all sorts of time composing emails that go back and

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<v Speaker 1>forth ten times to make a point that could have

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<v Speaker 1>been handled in a two minute phone call, and maybe

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<v Speaker 1>the point doesn't get made because it is shockingly easy

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<v Speaker 1>to misinterpret written communication. Even worse, when all phone calls

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<v Speaker 1>require appointments, people tend to set them on the hour

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<v Speaker 1>or half hour, even when they'll take three minutes. If

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<v Speaker 1>you know you've got to call at three pm, you

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<v Speaker 1>stop focusing on deep work a little before that and

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<v Speaker 1>cycle through headline checks and such after. If you have

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<v Speaker 1>little appointments peppering your schedule all day, you might never

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<v Speaker 1>get really into focused work. The schedule clutter makes you

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<v Speaker 1>far less effective. Lots of things are changing now with

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<v Speaker 1>the COVID nineteen pandemic, as many people work from home

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<v Speaker 1>for the first time. Here's something that definitely should change.

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<v Speaker 1>People need to start just picking up the phone when

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<v Speaker 1>they need to ask a question or get clarification on something.

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<v Speaker 1>While in the past you might have assumed you'd bump

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<v Speaker 1>into your colleagues in the hall, now you won't. You'll

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<v Speaker 1>need to actually reach out to anyone you want to

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<v Speaker 1>talk to, and since you need to call, it's much

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<v Speaker 1>more efficient if people just pick up the phone and

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<v Speaker 1>do so. No twiddling your thumbs until the official three

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<v Speaker 1>pm start. No winding up with small bits of hard

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<v Speaker 1>to use time between appointments on the hour and half hour. Now, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>it might feel risky to call, but if it's convenient,

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<v Speaker 1>the other person will pick up, and if not, you

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<v Speaker 1>will try again. But either approach is better than a

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<v Speaker 1>twelve email chain that then accidentally gets four awarded to

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<v Speaker 1>the wrong person, or setting appointments all day long that

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<v Speaker 1>leads to time stress. And here's another upside to the phone.

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<v Speaker 1>It's really nice to hear people's voices. My social distancing

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<v Speaker 1>involves five children underfoot, but if your house is quieter,

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<v Speaker 1>you might enjoy getting a real chat. If you can't

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<v Speaker 1>go outside to talk to people, well that's the next

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<v Speaker 1>best thing, and it can put a real smile on

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<v Speaker 1>your face. So next time you find yourself sending a

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<v Speaker 1>long email to ask if you can have a quick

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<v Speaker 1>chat at two pm, just pick up the phone and

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<v Speaker 1>call about the matter instead. If you're managing people, let

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<v Speaker 1>them know that yes, you really do want them to

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<v Speaker 1>call you call them to tell them that you'll get

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<v Speaker 1>your work done and be on your way in the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four,

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<v Speaker 1>then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

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<v Speaker 1>dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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<v Speaker 1>the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

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<v Speaker 1>in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.

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