the other end of the phone. The only way to resist this temp-
tation to be distracted is for you to turn off the phone com-
pletely so that you don’t even hear it ring.
Whenever you are meeting with staff and subordinates,
or with your boss or with clients, have your calls held. Turn
off your cell phone. Allow no interruptions whatsoever.
There is seldom anything so important that it will not wait.
Ten minutes of uninterrupted time in conversation with
another individual will be more productive than thirty or
forty minutes with the phone ringing and being answered
throughout your conversation. Later, you can call people
back, one after another.
Bunch Your Calls
If you have to make a series of phone calls in the course of
the day, make them all at the same time. Carve out a chunk
of time where you can turn off every other distraction and
only make phone calls to the important people on your list.
Write down the name, number, and subject of each person
that you need to call.
Schedule phone calls as religiously as you would sched-
ule a meeting with your boss. If it is an important call, write
out your agenda for the call so that you are working from a
list when you are talking to the other person. There are few
things as exasperating as getting off an important phone call
with a difficult-to-reach person and discovering that you
have forgotten to cover an important point because you
didn’t write it down.
82 TIME MANAGEMENT