[fastfredracing]

A little history, I am a one man auto repair shop. I love fixing cars, and I do take it seriously. I have a pretty good reputation around here. I am super busy. I have been in buisness for 15 years, and the biggest hurdle that I cannot overcome, is the telephone. Last friday , I got in at 7:30 am , the phone was ringing as I was unlocking the door, and it never stopped. I was unable to turn a single bolt untill lunchtime. It is like this every day. An answering machine will fill up in less than a half day just with missed calls. I am constantly on the phone. I blew off work today, just for the simple fact that I could not stand the thought of trying to hustle a clutch job while getting hammerd by the phone. even if I had an answering service, I would have to stay two hours later every night just to field the calls. So I am out with my 3 year old son today, and my cell phone rings like 25 more times . I try not to give my cell phone # out to customers, but sometimes you have to . For about the last year, I will answer the phone for a coule of hours in the morning, and just ignore it , untill I get all of my work done. I am good at what I do, but I simply cannot concentrate at what I am doing when on the phone. Any of you feel like this?? I once had a secretary, but all that seemed to do was elimate me from running to pick up the phone, I was still on the phone all day. Any good ideas as to how to make my life a little easier? I regularly launch phones out the door, and I have smashed a few into bits with the BF hammer. Thanks for letting me rant.