I Quit My Number but Still Get Work Calls

[mouakter14]

A few months ago, I made what I thought was a radical move: I gave up my personal phone number. I’d grown tired of the constant pings, robocalls, group messages, and the creeping feeling that I was always “on-call” even outside of work hours. I figured if I deleted my number and moved to communication through apps and email only, I could finally reclaim some headspace and peace. I notified friends, family, and even coworkers, told them not to expect texts or calls, and closed that chapter. It worked beautifully—for a while. But despite my best efforts, I’m still somehow getting work calls. Even without a phone number of my own, my boundaries keep getting crossed.

Here’s the strange part: these calls are coming through special database work devices and platforms I still use—like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, and even some VoIP numbers I’d forgotten were linked to my accounts. Colleagues “just need a quick word” or want to hop on a call without scheduling anything, and suddenly I’m back in the same loop I was trying to escape. I’ve also had people contact me through my work email asking, “What number can I reach you at?”—ignoring the fact that I’ve explicitly said I don’t use one anymore. It’s not even about emergencies; it's about how deeply embedded the expectation is that everyone should be reachable immediately, all the time. In quitting my number, I learned that the real problem wasn’t the digits—it was the culture.

So now, I’m adjusting again. I’ve started using auto-responders, calendar blocks, and do-not-disturb settings much more aggressively. I route all spontaneous call attempts straight to voicemail or decline them outright unless pre-scheduled. If someone insists on a phone number, I redirect them to set up a call via email. Quitting my number was just the first step—changing how people expect to reach me is the real challenge. It’s shown me that you can remove a piece of tech from your life, but without resetting social norms around availability, it creeps right back in. If you’re thinking about ditching your number to create better boundaries, I highly recommend it—but also prepare to rethink and reinforce how you communicate across all platforms. The number is gone, but the work of protecting your time never really stops.