I’ve found myself needing to explain this concept frequently, so I’m writing it out as a blog post to share instead…

A recommended experiment: for as many scheduling requests as you can fathom, refuse to set a call time and instead simply give people your cell number and say “call me anytime; I’ll hit you back if I miss you.”

I’m perhaps a year into doing this for ~95% of call requests, and could not be happier.

Why is it great?

  • calls now last the appropriate amount of time — often 2-10 minutes, but sometimes 2 hours! — instead of defaulting to a 30- or 60-minute block and wasting everyone’s time filling that block or running out of time
  • nobody is making a future commitment on their schedule that could end up being inconvenient by the time it arrives. You simply call and pick up when it is convenient for both of you. It’s literally impossible for the call to end up happening at a time that is inconvenient for either of you!
  • ~50% of people never end up calling because it turns out there wasn’t really a need for a call in the first place (see Dilbert’s “Most problems go away if you wait long enough”)
  • it turns remote interactions into phone calls instead of Zooms. I have developed a strong dislike for video calls — I find they sit in an uncanny valley and would much rather talk audio-only (or with a quick visual hello on FaceTime and then switch to audio). Plus you can walk while you talk!

As a result of this practice, my schedule is extremely open and I pretty much always pick up when people call. If I can’t, then I rip through any backlog of missed calls (or calls-to-be-made on my end) while I’m out for a walk. This has been a tremendous quality-of-life improvement.

A friend sent me this 90-second video from Jason Fried which exactly represents my attitude and emotions toward the whole thing. You should watch it.

He adds another dimension: you can… just call people. Even if you don’t have something worthy of a “meeting.” Friends can just call each other! It seems to shock people the first time you do it. But then they almost inevitably say “well that was lovely, thanks for the call.” After that, the ice is broken and you can call each other anytime without surprise.

I have found that for roughly 30% of people, telling them to “just call me” seems to break their brains. For example, here is an amusing, slightly abridged (but not augmented!) real exchange I had with someone:

Chat

Andy! Good to meet you. Would love to hop on a call next week. Would you have any time after 3pm on Wednesday?

Hey, great to meet you. Call anytime! Will hit you back if I miss your call.

Cool if I send an invite for that time? would love to hold it on my calendar

Feel free but I don't keep to my calendar - will aim to be available but no promises. But genuinely call anytime, odd hours included. I will either catch you or try you back!

No worries and no need to accept the invite. I'll dial ya then and if you're busy, we can find another time.

Well - looks like i got my wires crossed anyway and that time is booked. Any chance if I buzz you Monday afternoon?

I am not joking when I say call anytime :) 80% chance I will pick up between 6a-10p PT Sunday through Saturday

Ok expect a call Monday 1:30pm PT

I totally get that most people live by their calendars and pre-set meeting blocks (I did for most of my life!). But this approach is not incompatible with them having calendars. You can put a calendar block “call Andy” and call me then. And if I don’t pick up, you get that block back!

People sometimes ask: what if the call is urgent or needs to happen before some date? Well: you can simply say that. In fact, even better: just call immediately! This “call anytime” method generally results in connecting faster than if you scheduled something out.

Are there exceptions to this? Of course. Meetings that necessarily involve more than two people are best scheduled. It’s not an absolute rule.

I may write another piece at some point about my “Working with Andy” doc (an exercise I recommend everyone do). But in the meantime: I have found that “just call me” is a great combo with a default-async way of working.

It is tremendously productive and enjoyable to couple async comms (memos, texts, emails, Looms, voice notes) with ad-hoc phone calls. Scheduled — and even worse, recurring scheduled — calls are rarely necessary in many working contexts. Instead of a recurring scheduled call, try giving yourself a recurring to-do to call someone — and then only do it if you want to!

(And of course, that’s all best coupled with meaningful in-person time too…)

So, anyway: just call me. It doesn’t even need to be important. Don’t be scared :)

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