1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to just make that phone call, Particularly 4 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: if you are working at home these days, you can 5 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,919 Speaker 1: save yourself all sorts of time and frustration and schedule 6 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: clutter by using the actual telephone feature on your phone. 7 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,840 Speaker 1: As a bonus, as we're all engaged in social distancing, 8 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 1: hearing a human voice can be a real mood boost too. 9 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: Once upon a time, the only convenient way to communicate 10 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:43,839 Speaker 1: with someone who wasn't right in front of you was 11 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: to call that person on the phone. Now, there were 12 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: downsides to this. A ringing phone interrupts whatever the other 13 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: person is doing right at the time you've chosen whether 14 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: this is convenient for the other person or not. So 15 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: asynchronous forms of communications seems like great solutions to this problem. 16 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,759 Speaker 1: As email and texts became available, phone calls fell out 17 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: of favor. Indeed, many people think it might be rude 18 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:15,399 Speaker 1: or presumptuous to call someone without explicit permission, like you've 19 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: sent a calendar invite to talk at two pm. This 20 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: makes sense, but the net result is that people waste 21 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: all sorts of time composing emails that go back and 22 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,319 Speaker 1: forth ten times to make a point that could have 23 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,680 Speaker 1: been handled in a two minute phone call, and maybe 24 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: the point doesn't get made because it is shockingly easy 25 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: to misinterpret written communication. Even worse, when all phone calls 26 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: require appointments, people tend to set them on the hour 27 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: or half hour, even when they'll take three minutes. If 28 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: you know you've got to call at three pm, you 29 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: stop focusing on deep work a little before that and 30 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: cycle through headline checks and such after. If you have 31 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: little appointments peppering your schedule all day, you might never 32 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: get really into focused work. The schedule clutter makes you 33 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: far less effective. Lots of things are changing now with 34 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: the COVID nineteen pandemic, as many people work from home 35 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: for the first time. Here's something that definitely should change. 36 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 1: People need to start just picking up the phone when 37 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,639 Speaker 1: they need to ask a question or get clarification on something. 38 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: While in the past you might have assumed you'd bump 39 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: into your colleagues in the hall, now you won't. You'll 40 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: need to actually reach out to anyone you want to 41 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: talk to, and since you need to call, it's much 42 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: more efficient if people just pick up the phone and 43 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: do so. No twiddling your thumbs until the official three 44 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: pm start. No winding up with small bits of hard 45 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: to use time between appointments on the hour and half hour. Now, yes, 46 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: it might feel risky to call, but if it's convenient, 47 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 1: the other person will pick up, and if not, you 48 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: will try again. But either approach is better than a 49 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 1: twelve email chain that then accidentally gets four awarded to 50 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: the wrong person, or setting appointments all day long that 51 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: leads to time stress. And here's another upside to the phone. 52 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: It's really nice to hear people's voices. My social distancing 53 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: involves five children underfoot, but if your house is quieter, 54 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: you might enjoy getting a real chat. If you can't 55 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 1: go outside to talk to people, well that's the next 56 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: best thing, and it can put a real smile on 57 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,640 Speaker 1: your face. So next time you find yourself sending a 58 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: long email to ask if you can have a quick 59 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: chat at two pm, just pick up the phone and 60 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: call about the matter instead. If you're managing people, let 61 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: them know that yes, you really do want them to 62 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: call you call them to tell them that you'll get 63 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: your work done and be on your way in the meantime, 64 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making 65 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to 66 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, 67 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook 68 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, 69 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me 70 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media 71 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all 72 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying 73 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. 74 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i 75 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,479 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 76 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.