If you work the phone a lot, you’ve probably heard your fair share of voice mail messages.

Hi, this is so and so. I’m either on the phone or away from my desk. Blah Blah Blah. If you’d like to leave a message, please blah blah blah.

Or …

Hi! You’ve reached the Robinsons, Timmy, Bob, Michelle, Mark, and fluffy (woof, woof). We’re sorry we missed your call. But if you’ll leave your name, number, and a detailed message, we’ll be sure to call you right back!

You can save yourself a lot of time by learning a shortcut that takes you directly into a person’s voice mail (i.e., the beep), without having to listen all the way through.

• For most land lines, push #
• For most cell phones, push 1 or *

This recent Lifehacker post suggests the order “one star pound” if you’re unsure if the number is a land line or cell phone. That combination will almost always get you to the beep!

Give it a try. The time you’ll be saving will add up!