While cooking dinner on the stove, calling out spelling words to my second grader, and buckling the tiny plastic seat belt in Strawberry Shortcakes’ car, my telephone rings.

As I prevent dinner from burning, calm my son who is waiting for his next word, and hand the car to my toddler, I trip over the toys on the kitchen floor and reach the phone. Met with a recorded message informing me that I qualify for a credit card or a credit increase that I have not requested, I hang up.

Though those irritating phone call disruptions will never entirely go away, I have limited those disruptions by placing our telephone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. Due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007 ^[2], telephone numbers placed on the Do Not Call Registry remain on the list permanently.

Do Not Call Registry Defined

The Do Not Call Registry ^[3] is a list of phone numbers refusing telephone solicitations. If you have an account with a company or one of its subsidiaries, you may have accepted their terms of agreement to contact you with offers, like my example above. You cannot stop all the extra phones calls, but you can stop lots of them.

Limits of Do Not Call Registry

You can register your home and cellular phone numbers.

Registration is free, and as of February 2008, your registration will not expire.

How to add your number to the Do Not Call Registry

1. Online ^[4]

2. Phone by calling 1-888-382-1222

3. TTY by calling 1-866-290-4236

In using time wisely, add your phone numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry. As you cut the number of distractions, you might finish dinner on time without any burnt edges. 🙂 Happy distraction removal!

Question: How often do you get bothered with unsolicited phone calls?