It is okay to not want to be disturbed. No one wants to be a source of discomfort to a friend. This makes us often careful when dealing with one another.
When wanting to hang out with a friend, we also consider impulsively the willingness of our friend to hang out with us.
People can be busy so it’s only reasonable to make sure you are not making a casual request at the wrong time.
There are several ways you can make sure you are not intruding on a person’s work hours. You can simply tell the person that you want to have a talk and it’s not important.
This will tell the person not to expect a serious discussion with you. In other words, the person will only make himself or herself available when he or she is ready to be casual with you
20 Ways To Ask Someone To Call When They Are Free
- Call me during your spare time
- I will be expecting to see your call
- Let me know whenever you’re done
- Can you inform me when you have a minute
- Please beep me later
- I can wait. Call me.
- Whenever you’re done, I’ll be available.
- We have to talk. Finish up.
- Beep me when you’re free.
- When will you be available? We need to talk.
- Hit me up when you are through with that.
- Let’s talk about it when you’re ready.
- Drop me a line when you’re less busy.
- Ensure you beep me later.
- Let’s have a chat after work.
- I don’t want to intrude on your work. Call me later.
- Can we talk on the phone later?
- Are you available for a chat? Call me whenever
- I’ll be waiting to hear from you.
- Holla at me whenever you’re free.
Call me during your spare time
You don’t need to ask whether or not the person is free. This may depend on what you are planning to discuss with the said person and how urgent it really is.
There are a few faults with asking whether a person is free or not so it is better to let the person decide when he or she will be free without giving you a specific time.
One of the reasons to avoid asking whether a person is free or not is that he or she may feel a bit reluctant to tell you the truth.
Asking this question may suggest that you want to talk about something that he or she is not interested in and that may take his or her time.
He or she may choose to lie to you. When you tell him or her to call you when free, the person may choose to take a few minutes before calling you back just so he or she doesn’t seem dishonest.
Another reason to avoid asking this question is that he or she may feel pressured to talk to you when he or she really doesn’t want to. Not many people are okay with lying.
When he or she claims to be free, there may be no excuse to end the call earlier than you intend to.
By giving this statement, you are allowing him or her to choose the right time for your conversation. You already know that the person will only call you when he or she is free and interested in talking to you.
I will be expecting to see your call
This only suggests that you want the person to call you as soon as possible. You can state the reason you want him or her to have a chat with you.
You may be having an important topic but it may not be something important to him or her. Instead of attacking the person with your problems, you can make sure you are not disrupting the person’s work with yours.
After giving the reason for your conversation, you can state what you need the person’s help with. You may also state that you don’t want to disturb the person so he or she can choose the right time to talk.
Make sure you are stating every major part of the topic so the discussion wouldn’t have to be lengthy when it has to happen.
Let me know whenever you’re done
As we have discussed, it is not very comfortable for the other person when you are asking if he or she is free or not. However, by any chance, the person may mention that he or she is busy with something.
You may also get to know that the person is busy in some way or another. You just have to acknowledge the person’s work.
It is okay to use this if you want to talk about something serious. State that you know the person is busy. You don’t have to state what time you expect the person to be done.
Since it is an important topic, you may want to let the person know beforehand. You may also give all the details so the conversation wouldn’t have to be so long when the person is done with his or her work.
This statement may not feel very comfortable for the person you are talking to, however. While the person is allowed to come to you when he or she is done with a particular job, he or she may not feel allowed to rest.
Can you inform me when you have a minute?
This is very similar to the first suggestion on this list. You are not bothering to ask for the person’s free time. He or she may want to have some rest so asking that question may seem like you are intruding.
While you are trying hard not to intrude on the person’s work, you must also make sure you are not intruding on the person’s rest.
You may not state what you want the conversation to be about but it may be unnecessary since you are only asking for a short time.
While you may not be using just a minute, you definitely shouldn’t be taking much longer. In some cases, you may not even need up to a minute with the person.
This can make the person come to you immediately after work and skip the time for rest since he or she knows you will only be taking a short time.
Please beep me later
You can say this after acknowledging that the person is busy. You may have asked whether the person is busy or not or you may have confirmed that the person is busy in one way or the other.
After acknowledging that the person is busy, you can tell the person to beep you later.
You did not state a specific time. It is also great that you are not making the person give you a specific time to have your conversation with him or her. By saying ‘Later’, the time is undecided.
You are telling him or her to phone you. In other words, the person gets to choose when ‘Later’ will be. Of course, the person will not choose to call you while he or she is still busy.
Whenever he or she chooses to give you a call, he or she is already prepared to have the conversation with you.
I can wait. Call me
You may have asked if the person is busy or not. The person may say he or she is busy. Whether that is true or not, you should show that you are not willing to put him or her in a rush or be a form of inconvenience.
After acknowledging that the person is busy, you can say that you will wait for him or her to be done. This may make him or her conscious of you but it won’t be as inconvenient as making him or her speak with you at the moment.
With this statement, you will be allowing him or her to finish up with work and only call you when free.
Whenever you’re done, I’ll be available
This is very similar to the statement suggested earlier but the use of ‘whenever’ makes the difference. This statement is best if you obviously can’t monitor the person’s work.
The person will be able to tell you lies whenever he or she wants to. While you may be uncomfortable with your friend lying about being busy, his or her lies only show that he or she is not interested in having a chat at the moment you are requesting it. You don’t have to make him or her feel forced.
When you say this, you are telling him or her that you will always be available for the conversation and you are only waiting for him or her to be available.
You are also suggesting that you are not in a rush. The use of ‘whenever’ suggests that you don’t care how long you have to wait. This is not necessarily true.
This is a good way to make your request since you can’t monitor the person’s work so the person doesn’t have to call you immediately he or she is done. He or she can call you ‘whenever’ he or she is ready.
We have to talk. Finish up.
This may be one of the most accurate ways to phrase your request and pass the exact message you need to pass. It is not the best way to say it, however.
When you tell a person to call you when he or she is free, you are telling the person to call you immediately he or she is done with everything keeping him or her busy.
This is irrespective of the person’s interest in whatever you want to talk about.
You should only say this to a person whom you have the right to make this kind of demand from. You can say this if you know the work the person is doing.
You are telling the person to be quick with finishing the work and he or she has to come to you or call you immediately after.
Beep me when you’re free
You don’t ask a person to call you just for the sake of receiving the person’s call. When you call a person, it is usually because you want to have a conversation or pass a message to the person.
When you tell a person to beep you, you are telling him or her to notify you so you can call back.
You are directly saying the person should notify you when he or she is free; less busy or ready to have a chat with you.
Once you receive the beep, you can call back and have the intended conversation.
When will you be available? We need to talk.
It is not often a good idea to ask when a person will be available to have a conversation with you. We have talked against this; affirmative.
However, there may not be many better ideas when you are dealing with an urgent or important topic.
The benefit of asking when the person will be available is that you know when you call him or her back. You know the exact time to expect his or her call and you can choose to call the person when that time is past.
If you are dealing with something that has to be dealt with urgently, you can know if the person will be providing himself or herself in time to meet your schedule.
If not, you know you don’t have to expect anymore. Again, if the time is past, you can quickly call back or find an alternative way out of your predicament.
If you let the person choose a random time without informing you beforehand, you won’t be sure of how long you have to wait on him or her.
Hit me up when you are through with that.
‘Hit me up’ doesn’t mean you’re punching someone in the face. Also, you’re not using rods. It is an informal phrase that refers to a phone call. When you tell a person to hit you up, you are telling him or her to give you a call.
You are permitting the person to only call you when he or she is through with a particular task you already know of.
This may not be totally convenient for the person. You are not giving space for rest and he or she may be unable to tell lies since you seem to already know what he or she is doing.
You are telling the person to call you immediately he or she is done working on a particular work.
Let’s talk about it when you’re ready.
‘When you are ready’ is a good way to phrase your request. This way the person can take as much time as possible
If it’s a topic that should be discussed urgently, this may be a bad idea unless you are making it clear that it is an urgent topic.
When you say this, the person will only call when he or she is willing to have a conversation with you.
Drop me a line when you’re less busy.
Have you ever heard the phrase ‘drop me a line’ before? It is another informal way of telling a person to give you a call.
You are telling the person to call you whenever he or she is free.
Ensure you beep me later
This is another request that seems forceful and it only makes sense if you are talking to someone who works under you.
You are telling him or her to call you later. While he or she should be deciding when ‘later’ will be, he or she will also make sure ‘later’ is soon, whether he or she is free or not.
Let’s have a chat after work
You can say this to your coworker. You are asking that the conversation be held after working hours.
You know that he or she should not be busy after working hours unless he or she is just not willing to have the chat with you.
I don’t want to intrude on your work. Call me later.
You don’t have to wait for the person to say he or she is busy before considering this statement. The person may cut you short and say he or she is free at the moment.
This statement allows the person to choose when the conversation will happen.
Can we talk on the phone later?
You are not giving the person a chance to say ‘no’. You can consider this a needless question. Rather, it is a request.
Also, you are letting the person choose the time. The person may ask what time you want the conversation to happen.
Are you available for a chat? Call me whenever
You can ask this question first before adding the statement. You don’t have to wait for a response to the question. That way, the person won’t feel forced.
I’ll be waiting to hear from you
This implies that you are willing to wait for the person to be ready. However, it may also make the person think he or she is keeping you waiting. This may make him or her a bit uncomfortable.
Holla at me whenever you’re free
‘Holla at me’ means ‘Call me’. It is slang so you should only use this in casual conversation.