Doug, a PE reader that I recently had the pleasure of meeting through email, showed me how he pulled the plug on his home phone. Go check it out. I think it’s a great example of how you can rid your life and workflows of nuisances that you may implicitly accept now. Specifically, unwanted “junk” calls.

It’s also a great example of using modern technology to cheaply consolidate and simplify your life.

I’ve not managed to ditch my landline yet, but I have whittled the cost down to a reasonable amount. More importantly, I’m auto-forwarding all inbound calls to a Google Voice number.

Though I’ve not given out my Google Voice number to anyone, I’m using it to create a unified voice mailbox. All of my voicemails go to that same spot. The best part is that I rarely have to listen to voice messages.

Google transcribes the messages and sends them to me via email. I’d much rather read a telemarketer’s call and delete it than have to listen to it over a phone.

I guess it's one way that email is giving back to older forms of communication.

Feel free to share your own tips for streamlining phone and voicemail workflows.