Work at Home Productivity Tips –

I have to admit, I am not a phone person. A few things that do help me are very simple.

1. Have a home for your phone book. How many times have you spent the time it would have taken to make the call looking for the phone book, or worse, giving up in frustration without making the call? I have a basket especially for the phone book on my office shelf, now I can always find it.

2. They say to smile when you are talking because people can sense it. I don’t know if that works, but I do know that taking a minute in a quite area before I call, taking a deep breath, and being sure to close the door helps me to focus on the call.

If you are working at home, sometimes the best laid plans can go astray, but you have a 50/50 chance in your favour, depending on how many kids you have :0) You can read my phone hell story here. – Jan Ferrante

ORGANIZING PHONE CALLS 1-2-3 by Maria Gracia

Organizing your incoming and outgoing phone calls can be as easy as 1-2-3. Here’s how:

1. PREPARE, BEFORE YOU CALL.
   Before you make a phone call, do a little preparation. Gather anything you need to refer to, jot down any questions, keep a pen and paper handy to write down any notes and if necessary, practice what you are going to say to the person who answers the call. Checklists work great too. If you want to get a number of points across, make a checklist beforehand, and check off each item as it is discussed.

2. CONSOLIDATE.
   If you have to make a bunch of phone calls during your day, designate an hour as your ‘phone hour’ and make all your calls during that time.

3. ELIMINATE INTERRUPTIONS.
   Telephone interruptions make it extremely difficult to get anything done. The phone usually rings at an unexpected time and interrupts the project that you’re working on. When you’re working on something important, allow your voicemail or answering machine to field your calls for you. Then, you can call back at your convenience.

by Maria Gracia – Get Organized Now!
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