The Five Minute Phonecall And 5 Reasons Why

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I'm not one of those people who hates phone calls. Actually, depending on who I'm calling, I can chatter on for hours. Literally! I know people who really dislike calling because it feels awkward or strange to them to talk to someone without being able to see their face. For me, it's no biggie.

There are, however, many good reasons for limiting time spent on phone calls in general, even if they're usually relatively pleasant. I try to keep my phone calls to about 5 minutes or less, and leave longer conversations either for skype calls (similar to phone calls but different in one very important regard: see point 3), or by meeting the person in person.

I've listed 5 reasons below for keeping your phone calls short. There may be others you can add and I hope you'll do so in the comments!

1. Cooking your brain. This article on CNN repeats the well-known suspicion that all that radiation that come from your phone, may be cancerous after all. Cell phone radiation has not been around long enough to see the effects of decades, but with every passing year we're getting nearer and nearer to more definite answers. In the mean time, we might as well play it safe!
   
2. Save time. Phone calls are usually made for a specific reason, to get a specific answer or extend an invitation, for example. The purpose of a phone call is rarely just to catch up. So just focus on settling the matter at hand, and leave the catching up for a time when you're both free to take as long as you want.
   
3. Money, money, money. Email is free. So is computer-to-computer Skype and a face to face conversation. Phone calls, however, are not! The average American spent about $50 to $60 a month on their cell phone bill in 2010. That's quite a bit of money! You could go with a cheaper plan, or a prepaid card, and just pay for what you use. It means no free minutes, but you might still save money in the long run!
   
4. Limit time of distractions. A phone call usually interrupts another activity. It's one of the disadvantages of phone calls compared to email (an advantage is the speedy response and direct feedback, however). Keeping the distraction short makes sure you don't lose track of what you were doing before.
   
5. It's tempting to multi-task. Many of us are tempted to do more than one thing at the same time while we're on the phone. In this post on RePsych, you'll find 5 basic tips for meaningful telephone conversations without all the distractions butting in on the conversation. But it's still hard to do! At least, while writing an email or sending a text message, the recipient will not be the victim of your multitasking delay. 

I can usually manage to keep a phone conversation short by getting to the point quickly. I keep in mind why I'm calling someone, and if someone calls me, I'll ask them the reason for the phone call before we go off talking about other stuff. As an extra help, you can keep a paper and pen handy to jot down information and follow up questions before and during your conversation. Usually, this works quite well.

Most people will understand if you're busy or trying to save money. If you find that someone's reluctant to get off the phone, see if you can set up a time to talk with them properly, where it fits in with your schedule.

Do you usually take a long time talking on the phone? Do you enjoy it?