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Slack Variety Pack Ep7 - The Laid Back - Using your phone at Work

Here is a cold, hard fact. Everyone in the world, ahem, uses their phone at least once a day. Even the Queen of England, ahem, uses her phone. Although, where she uses her phone is probably way nicer than where you do. Here's the thing. Sometimes, we all have to use our phone at work. Here's our advice to help you gracefully navigate one of the least talked about but most universal workplace experiences.

Before we begin, it's important to remember, if you have the option, always, always, use your phone at home before you leave for work. After all, the office is probably the second worst place to have to use your phone. The worst is a gas station. Remember, discretion is key. No one in your office wants to know that you're about to use your phone. If you have the option, go to another floor in the building. You want your location to be the opposite of Cheers!. You want to go where nobody knows your name. On a side note, if your office is near a fancy hotel, go there. They typically have the nicest facilities.

Worst case scenario: in some situations, you'll just have to use your phone in the same room as your coworkers. Remember, we're all adults. Your phone is going to make audible notifications. That's perfectly natural, but never acknowledge them, and whatever you do, do not speak to the person using their phone next to you. Nobody came in here for the conversation.

Finally, when you return back to your desk, never let on that you were doing something overly complicated on your phone. Rather, you want to make it seem like you were just sending a quick text. It's a delicate issue, but you can handle it with dignity, because, let's be honest. Nobody wants to acknowledge that once in a while, everybody has to use their phone at work.

> source: https://a.slack-edge.com/48fe/img/variety_pack/transcripts/Slack_Variety_Pack_-_Episode_7_The_Laid_Back.pdf


last updated october 2018