Today’s Labor Day. As I sit in my kitchen enjoying a bowl of Rice Krispies, Tropicana OJ and a cup of Caribou Coffee, I can’t help but think about what tomorrow morning will bring at the office.

It seems that people often use holidays like this as milestone for when they should call you up and check-in on some long-term project. Most often, its consultants and vendors that think “this isn’t going anywhere now, I’ll put a note in my calendar to call back after Labor Day.”

It happens ever holiday and I’m sure tomorrow will be no exception.

And that’s why you can’t get ahold of me. I’m the kind of person who fills up any available office time (and time that isn’t available) with stuff I want to get done. I’m constantly emailing, IM’ing, meeting or calling people to get things done. The projects I work on move very quickly and there are usually a few things happening at once. To stop all of that momentum and answer surveys, talk about the company infrastructure to a stranger or bring hopeful consultants up-to-speed would slow things up quite a bit.

Now, I was once a consultant, so I’m not heartless on this topic. I understand that knowing where your customers are at is a crucial part of managing the consulting business. However, that’s why I’m extremely honest with where we are at. If a project is dead, I’ll say its dead. If something is stalled out, I’ll call it that and offer to call them up if it revives itself.

Yet I continue to get people who call to find out if its still dead. So many calls, infact, that I rarely answer my external extension throughout the day. People who know me know that email is the best option and a call on my cell is needed if its important.

I also don’t call “cold calls” back. Again, heartless, I know. But no where in my job description does it say that I get paid to do that. The average call takes 3-10 minutes and a few of those each day means that the company isn’t getting their total value from employing me.

So … if you’re reading this considering calling me tomorrow, let’s recap. My coffee is almost gone, I don’t answer cold calls, I won’t lie about a project, I’ll call you when we have something to talk about and email is the best way to reach me. Oh, and I’m not trying to be cold or mean, just honest ’cause hey, your time is valuable too! So now you can go on to your next call.