There are people who think it’s ok to call me on my cell without warning

It’s not that my schedule is so busy that I need to schedule all of my phone conversations. Not at all. Most often I’m happy to jump on a call right away. I’ll never make myself look busy (“how about Tuesday 4pm two weeks from now?”). I always have my text message read receipts turned on.

But there is one caveat.

Don’t ever call me directly on my cell phone without checking with me first. Text me first and see if it’s ok to call me or ask when I’m available. Email works too for professional contacts.

Only my very close relatives can call me directly. And even they would sometimes check with me first. And often I wouldn’t pick up immediately anyway because my phone is on silent most of the time.

I’m writing this because I continue to be surprised by how often people still dare do this — call directly, in the middle of the day. They come from very diverse backgrounds. Friends, ex-colleagues. Different ages, and different nationalities. Corporate professionals or the entrepreneurial kind. I have a great relationship with these folks. But this ability to call me in the middle of the day out of the blue — I just don’t get it.

I can’t call it rude because these people mean well. They call with good intentions. Maybe to catch up. Maybe to discuss something business-related. Or personal.

I can’t call it ill-mannered because most of these people are not ill-mannered. In…