Are you too responsive to unsolicited calls or emails?

How often do you take calls from numbers you do not recognize?

How often do you feel obligated to reply to an email simply because someone sent it to you?

Most people have the phone numbers of people they regularly talk to or want to talk to in their phone or address book. So, when that calls come in without caller ID or without matching one of hundreds of phone numbers you already have, why take the call? Unless you’re in a role or profession that requires fielding these calls, why not let the call go to voicemail and phone back when convenient for you? If you take an unsolicited call when you do not need to, you’re simply letting the caller dictate your schedule.

What about the unsolicited email you get? I’m not talking about email from people you want or need to correspond with or spam, but all that email in between. It’s from a legitimate person or company, but not one you necessary want to correspond with. If you feel obligated to respond, you’re letting the fact that someone chose to hit the send button dictate your schedule. What’s the harm in letting those emails go unanswered? Alternatively, you could create a rule that sends a stock reply and deletes the message whenever you mark it with a certain color or flag.

The goal here, to the extent your role or profession allows, is to get better control of your phone and email schedule and minimize interruptions. Answering and placing calls on your schedule means fewer disruptions and easier prioritization. Not responding to or automatically managing unsolicited emails helps ensure you’re not spending time managing more email simply because someone typed your name in the to box and hit send.