[watch "iPhone addy hack for introverts" on YouTube; 1:35 minutes]
This is so dirt-simple and so effective it will blow your mind. And you don’t even have to watch the video, although it’s kind of a cute one, complete with A SURPRISE PLOT TWIST, so maybe you might want to.
Here’s the deal: many, many introverts hate answering the phone. Hell, as far as I can tell, there are a fair number of extraverts who hate answering the phone. The phone sucks! Except when the phone is awesome, like when it hooks you up with your fave people who cheer you up and make your life nicer and better for five minutes.
So what you do is, dirt-simple, remember?, assign a nice photo to each person you need or want to talk to on your smartphone. Er, iPhone, I’m pretty sure you can do this with any phone that has a camera, but I’m Apple-centric and what do I know from other telephonic devices? Nothing, that’s what.
Bonus-extra ridiculous-but-useful tip: if there is someone you really, really do not want to talk to but must for some reason, name them something cute in your address book (“Rainbows and Flowers!” “Ice Cream and Doilies!”), pick an adorable picture of bounding puppies or bunnies in cups, and you will answer every stupid, hateful call with a secret smile on your face. Or, you know, just smile as you watch them go into voicemail.
xxx
c
People in this video (besides me): Heidi Miller (social media/self-promo junkie); Jodi Womack (women’s business networker extraordinaire)
Hi Colleen-
You are so right – love seeing photos of my smiling friends when the phone rings.
Another helpful hack is to give different people customized ring tones. My husband gets Warren Zevon, my designer gets Dave Matthews, my mom gets some sort of panic siren.
If you have a mac you can make the ring tones from songs with Garage band.
I cannot believe I forgot to mention that part, Jacquelyn—thank you. When I let Jodi pick her ringtone from the ones I’d already rolled, her first response was “Can you show me how to do that?” Here’s a link to a short YouTube video that explains it. Thanks!
Please add this to my entry on your phone:
http://outthinkgroup.com/skitch/2762777510_278335abf2-20110126-083336.jpg
Cute! I will totally pick up now!
I feel the same way about the phone. Of course, that means I leave mine turned off most of the time. Do you have a hack for that?
Turned off? B-b-b-ut then how do you get your email?
Ha! I got my cell in …hmm… 2002. It doesn’t *do* email.
I’m like you with the phone. But, as previously mentioned, I prefer the ringtone option. That way, I don’t even have to LOOK (or be near) my phone — I know who it is, and know if I want to answer. Taking it a step further, I have a “silent” ringtone for people that I NEVER want to speak to in “real time.”
Silent ringtone? I bow to you and your genius!