By Jim A. Luff
It seems that not a day goes by without someone ribbing me about my strange voicemail on my office and cell phone greetings. It simply says, "Please take note, I am unable to return calls on Monday." I find nothing funny about that, but my friends think it is.
Worse yet, I have those who refuse to believe I won't call them back. Of course, editor-in-chief of LCT Magazine, Martin Romjue would think nothing of calling me on a Monday to discuss magazine business. He doesn't care that it's Monday. My wife doesn't either. Nor does my Mother. Regular clients, close friends, and even enemies (just kidding) call me on Monday and always say, "I know that it is Monday but, its me calling." Oh, of course, since it is YOU calling, I will call you right back. Maybe.
So, what is it all about? I love to tell people that is the day I do my community service work I was sentenced to, or I attend AA or psychiatric appointments on Monday. Better, I am usually hung over on Monday.
Really, it is all about time management. The truth is, I do return calls from all the people I mentioned if they call on a Monday. We all receive dozens of useless calls all day long selling us everything from search engine optimization to office supplies. Golf signs, ads in yearbooks, and it goes on and on, interrupting your thought process and time to focus on administrative duties. I simply block out all of these calls for a single day to remain focused on planning for the week ahead and reviewing how we did last week. Where did we fail, where did we exceed, and how much did we make?
I also dedicate this day to talking with key people in the company about their assignments for the week, following up on things assigned last week, and making sure the ship stays on course. I do not feel it is appropriate to ask someone to come into the office and review their work with them without giving my undivided attention free from any phone calls taking away from their time.
So, that's the real scoop and I am sure the jokes will continue but I'm still not taking your call on a Monday. Well, maybe!
Print | posted on Thursday, October 23, 2008 9:25 AM