Hot take: Taking every single client call immediately wrecked my focus

I used to answer client calls the second they rang, thinking it showed I was reliable. But after a month of constant interruptions, I realized my deep work time was sliced into 20 minute chunks and my stress went through the roof. Now I batch calls to two afternoons a week, and some clients love it while a few complain I'm 'hard to reach'. Has anyone else tried setting strict call windows, and did you lose clients over it?

4 comments

4 Comments

owens.laura27d ago

Clients who whine about that weren't respecting your time anyway.

colegarcia27d ago

Man, tell me about it. I once had a client show up late and then complain I wasn't being flexible, like my calendar is just a suggestion box. I know I'm not the most organized guy, but I'm pretty sure showing up on time is a basic rule we all learned in kindergarten. Ever had one of those clients who thinks their schedule is the only one that matters?

michael_williams27d ago

@owens.laura nailed it, I switched to two call blocks and the complainers were the ones wasting my time anyway.

milalewis5d ago

My last phone battery died twice in one week because I was taking calls during my "creative hours" and forgot to charge it. Then I missed a call from a client who wanted to reschedule for the third time that month. I started doing call blocks on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons only, and honestly the ones who complained the most were the people who'd call me during my lunch break asking for stuff they could have emailed.