No Human Contact Day

[GypsyGraphics]

yesterday i was up against a major deadline and i knew if i had the usual interruptions, i wouldn't make it... and I DON'T MISS DEADLINES... EVER.

i started work at 4:30am, thinking i'd be far enough along by 9am that i could check caller id when the phone rang and only take calls from the clients i knew could be brief. but as 9am rolled around i was still struggling.

when the phone began to ring just minutes after 9... i started to get stress out and i made a great decision.... this would be a "NO HUMAN CONTACT DAY!"

it was awesome... not only did i not answer the phone, but i didn't check email or even answer the door when the UPS guy came (i knew he'd just leave the packages at the door). so all day, till around 7pm, i NEVER spoke to anyone. well, except my dog.... cuz there's no such thing as a "no doggy contact day."

anyway... it was great... thinking i might do it more often... just for the hell of it!

what do you guys do when you need more hours than the day offers?

 

[SignosaurusRex]

Ignore the world for a day......anything important will wait until and be there tomorrow.

 

[JR's]

Good for you GG. I do the same or I work late like tonight.

JR

 

[megacab]

Good for you GG. I do the same or I work late like tonight.

JR

same here with nights. just got done and it's 10:00. coulda used a couple more hours to finish everything completely......been a long week already. i like to work late rather than early. i HATE mornings:Sleeping:

 

[GypsyGraphics]

i often work late and sometime through the night... but this was different. choosing not to speak to ANYONE all day was a first for me.

my family was home for most of the day... so i put a sign on my office door that said...
"pay no attention to the lady behind the glass, the great and power oz has spoken."

 

[weaselboogie]

I work into the night and usually into the next day... unfortunately more frequently than I plan. I can get by on 2 or 3 hours of sleep for a couple of days in a row if needed to finish something that needs to get done. Usually that is from me biting off more than I can handle.

No one calls at 3am... except for my wife.

It's midnight ... and I just got back into the shop for a handful of more hours. cue up pandora or THE NERDIST podcast and I'm good to go.

 

[Firefox]

 

[CentralSigns]

what do you guys do when you need more hours than the day offers?

I just stop my watch then all day its the same time. Then when I look back I did all that in 5 min. Got a ton done in 5 min yesterday!! For that time I just work like hell, don't answer the phone if it rings or the door or whatever. Really how many people can bother you in 5 min anyways. You should try it ?

 

[Rick]

I just dial down my Space Time Continuum App and I can pretty much have all the time I need.

 

[Gino]

I work it like the government........ I'm operating in the year 2162.

I'm still on burrowed time. Works like a charm. When I feel threatened, just take another slug of my favorite beverage of choice....... and there's no place like home......... there's no place like home......... there's no place like home.........

 

[SignosaurusRex]

I work it like the government........ I'm operating in the year 2162.

I'm still on burrowed time. Works like a charm. When I feel threatened, just take another slug of my favorite beverage of choice....... and there's no place like home......... there's no place like home......... there's no place like home.........

.....Don't forget to click your heels three times and watch out for the flying monkeys!

 

[Gino]

Well, if she can talk about the curtain and powerful OZ, I can go chanting my stuff. Now you're making more steps for me to go through. Thanks a F**kin' lot, you just pushed me ahead four and a half decades.... now it's 2207. Egads !!

 

[Edserv]

Ever thought about hiring a secretary?
I wish I could "shut-off" the outside world. Unfortunately, my customers would probably go elsewhere. I bet some of yours did too.

 

[iSign]

you mean um, Mary?

I pulled an all nighter again just last week... seems like I end up doing one right before almost any trip I take!

 

[Custom_Grafx]

my business line is diverted to my mobile. when i need to do something, i do it, and the mobile goes on silent, for as long as need be. in the words of my revered mentor sargeant shultz, "i know nussing, i see nussing, i hear nussing!".

i truly believe, that this is the very reason God invented voice mail. i find if im not the one deciding what's important and what's not, that people will wait in line to tell me - and they are usually the type of people who are less deserving.

 

[Jillbeans]

I've always called those "Mental Health Days".
Not as fun as the real mental health days when you put up your Gone Fishin' sign and go for a picnic but still good for the soul.
Love....Jill

 

[skyhigh]

what do you guys do when you need more hours than the day offers?

I usually take a nap.

I figure if I take an hour nap, then I will probably work twice as fast the rest of the day.

 

[shakey0818]

When my backs against the wall and i need to put out 30 hrs of work in a 24 hr period i usually.....
#1-Sit down have a bite to eat and some caffeine as i come up with a stradegy
#2-Turn off all phones
#3-Get all my tools and stuff i might need out to save time looking for them
#4-Put some good uplifting music on that puts me in the right frame of mind
#5-Get down and dirty and bang the job out.

 

[B-RAD Graphics]

I am a bit of a night owl but I have tried to change my ways and get in super early and get alot more done a feel good by the time most peoples day just getting going..

I am very fortunate now as my new facility came with a secretary that answers everybody that is on the switchboard which has made my business become much more professional as people never wana hear an answer machine...if it is a first time customer they will just call the next guy..

But i understand you gota do wat u got a do sometimes..but for me I can do what you did and my customers have no clue that I dont want to talk to them...so at lunchtime I would check my messages and make any calls needed..

 

[GypsyGraphics]

Unfortunately, my customers would probably go elsewhere. I bet some of yours did too.

in 14 years i can count, on my fingers, the days clients have had to wait 24 hours to reach me. i keep regular business hours m-f, 9-5, when it comes to answering my phone, and work 20 hour days when necessary.

i don't offer same day service on ANYTHING, so anyone who went else because they couldn't reach me that day... was never going to be a customer of mine.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

god I wish I could do that. I talk to dozens and dozens of people all day every day, it's all I do, so while I'm talking to someone I'm getting 2 or 3 voice mails and 2 or 3 emails. It's almost impossible sometimes for me to respond to all of the emails and voice messages I get in a day. When I go on vacation it's a nightmare preparing and it's a week of double-timing it to get back with everyone. Sometimes if I take more than a few hours to respond to people they're livid. If I just fell off the grid for a day I think we'd go out of business or the natives would get restless and burn the building down... Sure wish I could though...