I learned this early on from a friend 8 years ahead of me, on how to behave with CC every day except R days:
- Print your roster on the 15th, and never ever look online again.
- Show up for rostered flights no matter what, even when you know it is cancelled. 99.9% of time, you end up doing the rostered flights or get the day off (after an hour of "standby" at dispatch) instead of more R time because some other guy got/will get jerked around since he answers his phone and/or checks crew direct.
- Don't give them your phone number, and don't call them from your phone without blocking the number. Any number you call them from can be kept forever in their system.
- Let them have a phone number on which you can be reached during R days with a separate, cheap, used Sham Shui Po phone with no voice mail that is only ever turned on during R hours, and otherwise never answer it or have it on.
- Never misread your roster.
- Know your CoS, RPs and FTLs for when you must answer during R days.
- There is always another guy willing to sacrifice his time off, leisure activities, personal hobbies, gym time, family time, girlfriend time, sleep time and fun to "help out" usually for no extra pay but rarely for much extra and almost never enough to compensate (if they don't manipulate it away from you later). So, let other people (workaholics, G day workers, phone answerers, brown nosers, "helpers") stress out, reschedule their lives and work their butts off for overtime while you enjoy your disruption-free published roster, published days off and personal plans that don't change.
Works like a charm.