My friend wants to help out...what should I have her do?

Question

I have phone anxiety meaning I get all nervous when I talk on the phone what can I get her to do to help me out with my anxiety?

Answer 1

Have her stand over you and watch while you call various businesses. Start small. Call businesses and ask for their hours. Then work up to asking directions to their store. Then figure out more complicated things you can do over the phone.

Anxiety is defeated by repeated, prolonged, and gradually intensifying exposure to the provoking situations. Once people face their fears enough different ways, their brains accumulate myth-clarifying information that an extreme level of fear is not necessary for those situations.

Answer 2

I would have her call you once and hour for 5 hours a day, and for 10 days. At first this call will last only 30 seconds for the first day. The next day 5 calls for 45 seconds. Third day five calls for 1 minute. Continue this trend till each call is a total of five minutes long. That's it. A call any longer is unproductive. Everything that needs to be said can be communicated in this short time. It will also help that during this time of waiting, you focus on what you will briefly talk about on your next call. By the time you finish all these calls your apprehension should have been quenched. It won't be gone, just set aside so to speak. However, the preparation of speaking will have taught you that way of focusing on items of interest to communicate. The reason I have chosen 5 minutes as a standard is that if you hang up after 5 minutes no one will think you cut them off. It's an appropriate time. But it is also going to be difficult for you to get everything needed to finish a conversation in that time unless you do all the talking, and we both know that's not how communication works. So there will be times you will exceed 5 minutes. Those will be a pat on the back to your self!