I hate phone calls. My preferred communications methods are in person, text, or Slack and not necessarily in that order. Of course, phone calls are unavoidable, and according to Pew Research the average adult cell phone owner makes and receives around five voice calls a day.
Despite a growing dislike for phone calls, recent data found that the primary activity of smartphones users is actually still for making actual phone calls. As a sometime remote worker, calls are a significant component of my daily work life.
But earlier last month, my own iPhone unexpectedly just stopped working. In a state of urgent need, I ended up having to use an old desk-based landline for an impending work call. But the call, which I had anticipated as being a slightly difficult conversation, went much more smoothly and productively than I could have hoped for. Convinced that my landline use led to such a positive call, I set myself a four-week challenge of only using this landline for all my work and personal calls.
The only exception was that I would answer a call on my smartphone if it was related to the direct needs and well-being of my three kids. I discovered that a return to full landline use is not sustainable. But these 30 days showed me how a few small nudges in my regular phone routine can actually make me both happier and more productive. Since I was required to actually be at my desk to take a call, the number instantly shrank down dramatically. The result was that I was really intentional about where I put my time versus just accepting invites as they came to me.
I began politely asking whether a call was the right necessary next step and if so, what we were hoping to achieve from that time. For me, that meant taking conference calls while walking the dog, doing team catch-ups while unloading a dishwasher, and making family calls while cooking.
But contrary to what we feel at the time, our multitasking efforts are actually having the reverse effect. There is a growing body of evidence to show that multitasking is bad for productivity, accuracy, and efficiency. Using the landline this last month meant the multitasking had to stop. The early s meant that we had to wait until someone was off the phone before we could access the Internet and talk to our friends on AOL Messenger.
Now, however, the majority of us rely on cell phones to communicate. We also don't need to worry about losing Internet access whenever someone makes a phone call.
Despite how handy and convenient cell phones are, some of us hang onto our household phone plans, too. We never even use the landline phone, rarely give out its number, and continue to pay for it as part of our cable bills. Because we largely use our cell phones to text and make calls, we end up paying for two phone plans and only using one of them. Get rid of your landline can be a little scary, especially because talking to cable companies which by and large own all forms of communication can be intimidating.
So, how can you go about ditching your landline phone plan? Kurland gave us a few pointers to get started. One of the biggest mistakes that people make when trying to cancel their landline phone plan is that they don't go in with a game plan, Kurland says. He recommends calling your provider during normal business hours between Monday and Friday, am to pm.
This will get you speaking to the right representative who can help you with canceling your plan. You can also block individual callers who become a nuisance. I would like to keep the landline since we have young children and I worry about emergencies.
For example, if a sitter were here or we taught our children how to call if, for example, something happened to Mommy or Daddy and we were unable to call for help.
There are other reasons too and as someone previously mentioned, I am not about to provide them with a cell phone at their ages. Plus we have calls long distance to the US. Any ideas? I like the old phones, but not the expense of a real phone line, so I run them on my voip system. My voip system does everything I need it to do, blocking telemarketers, send all calls to vmail at night, etc.
For I programmed the local emergency number that goes to the center at the police station. When I come home, the dumbphone goes off and I answer on the wired phones. My brother and sister both dropped their landlines but I still have mine. Trouble is, I use my cell for long distance calls such as to both of them and sometimes I have no juice left in the cell. So what do you without landline service do—plug in your cell phone every night to recharge?
I use my landline for local calls; the sound is more reliable, but I also have a lot of minuteSs stacked up on my cell that never get used, so sometimes I wonder about cutting landline to take care of that. But I also have caller id units; would these be useless without landline service?
Please answer. Can you really call the bank, check up on your IRA account safely? Would like responses to my question. I have magicjack was great till i moved and the dolt upstairs ahs a cb tower which si cutting into my line can hear his conversations all the time and he listens to the police calls …not leagal…but now i decided to put a raid channel on that internet line so he can hear that.. Hope the hell he cant hear me doing my business and banking but probably can apparently those cb towers picked up cells and your car phone as well..
Not right.. Plus free long distance across canada and the usa. Other thn the ass upstairs it works fine hoping the radio on it is now blocking his calls or listening to mine …i know most men hate rap so i put rap on lol a method to my maddness. For 2 years my husband has been trying to terminate a landline installed in In , there was no such contract! He is 79 years old and no longer operates the business the number was tied to.
He has stopped paying for the line. He calls them frequently and gets passed from one person to another who says they have no authority to take care of the problem. It is unbelievable that such a scam can continue! I have Magic Jack and am happy with it. Sign up for our highly entertaining and not super frequent smart money newsletter. Plus, get our Budget Bundle for free! Kerry K. Taylor T Saving. The bored, unfamiliar voices on the other end always asked for the same nonexistent people: Caller: Hello, is Mrs.
Taylor there? Caller: Can I speak with K. Taylor, please? Caller: Is the head of household available? Me: Cripes, everyone in my household has a head.
Related Posts. May 17th, 20 Comments. October 17th, 11 Comments. April 28th, 12 Comments. February 25th, 13 Comments. November 6th, 46 Comments. Robin from Frugal Family Times June 17, at am. Great article, Kerry! Phil McBurney June 17, at am. Ben June 17, at am. Jody June 17, at am. Nancy June 17, at am. Thanks for the article!
Carolyn June 17, at am. I am in the same boat as Robin. Kids are the only reason we have the land line now too. Ivy June 17, at am. Rich June 17, at am. Braden June 17, at am. Shira Nahari June 17, at am. Paula Lajoie June 17, at am. RegularGuy June 17, at am. Connie June 17, at am. Cleria June 17, at am. Helen June 17, at am.
Hey Kerry!! You can also port over your existing phone number too, but this can take up to 30 days. Sheila English June 17, at pm. Connie June 17, at pm. RegularGuy June 17, at pm. Christine Weadick June 17, at pm. Terri June 17, at pm. Great points! Gajizmo June 17, at pm. Tina June 17, at pm. Annie June 17, at pm. Ray June 18, at am. Terri June 18, at am. Natalia June 18, at am. Rachel June 18, at pm. Susan June 20, at am. Ana June 20, at pm. Brenda June 27, at am.
Scott July 5, at am. Bryan Jaskolka July 18, at am. Mike September 29, at pm. Marie October 15, at pm. Stan January 23, at am. Two simple questions to consider. How many times in a year do you lose dial tone on a land line? What I do is the following: 1.
So far, so good. RegularGuy November 10, at am. Zippy February 8, at pm. David J. June 30, at am. TJ October 17, at am. Nomadsandra January 20, at pm. M Eloise May 9, at am. Howard November 10, at pm. Leave A Comment Cancel reply Comment.
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