The cellphone was supposed to improve and simplify our lives, and yes, it did this, but it also seems to cause a lot of undue stress and time-wasting.
Here are some ideas on what I have done to simplify my life so that the cellphone is not in control. Maybe not all these things can work for you, but hopefully it will spark some ideas you can implement into your lifestyle.
- No voicemail
So now I have no messages to check, and no false promises made by my voice-mail message to live up to. If I miss your call and your name (not just your number) came up in my caller ID I will probably phone you back. - No private numbers answered
I just ignore hidden numbers, so no more phone spam. Yeah, maybe I miss a few legitimate calls, but not having to deal with spammers and scammers far outweighs this. - Encourage email communication
I have encouraged most of my clients to connect with me via email rather than cellphone. This has cut down dramatically on calls and time. This also allows me to respond properly with the correctly researched information. - Pay As You Go
I reduced my contract from over R500 a month to a much smaller one (just over R120) with a pay-as-you-go top up option and 200 free SMSs. - SMS
I use SMS rather than phoning to keep costs down. 200 free SMSs is about 6 a day. I never manage to use them all up every month. - Please call me back
If I make a phone call and my friend and/or client needs to have a long (and costly to me) conversation, I ask them to call me back, or rather send an email. Can be a bit uncomfortable to do this the first few times, but it soon becomes a habit that cuts down on my costs and my time.
Stop blaming an inanimate object for your stress. Take control.
Music Fan, established 1959
