Part Three: Managing Interruptions

Focus Newsletter, November 2007

 

Part One and Part Two of the series “Managing Interruptions” talked about setting boundaries and protecting your time pro-actively in order to increase your focus and productivity. The articles discussed fighting off interruptions by people, the phone, email, etc… Now there is one last area that needs to be addressed: the interruptions that you cause!

 

          These types of interruptions can be in the form of procrastination, distractibility, boredom and lack of focus, just to name a few. These are interruptions that you manufacture, consciously or unconsciously, and are not the best use of your time. Not knowing what to do and not liking what you do are two more productivity killers.

 

          However, taking legitimate breaks is very different. Breaks are necessary to keep your balance and creative juices flowing.  These are good for giving your mind a rest or rewarding yourself for having completed a task.

 

          If you find yourself reacting to most of your day to begin with, the interruptions listed above can cause you the most harm because you can’t afford to waste time since you may not be checking things off your to do list anyway. For those readers who are highly focused and stay on task and on target for most of the time, you can probably afford to take breaks more often, guilt-free, and not worry about losing productive time out of your day.

 

          In this article I want to identify the interruptions that are NOT purposeful breaks, and though you may not be aware of it, these can cost you time each day which would otherwise be productive. The point here is to remind you that you are ultimately in control and if you don’t feel that way, take stock of how you’re spending your time at work.  Here are 3 tips to stop these internal interruptions so you can get back on track…

 

 

1.) Finish What You Start

Have you experienced this scenario: You come into work and you start sorting your mail from yesterday and you stop when you realize you need to do something with the third item you found, a letter. (Mail sorting process is not complete…) You start to send an email to the person related to this letter and you realize you need to check a file for a previous letter related to the situation. (E-mail you’re writing is not complete…) While you’re reviewing the file, you notice that another file in the drawer is exceedingly large and you stop to clean it out because you know you haven’t been in there for a long time. (Search for prior letter is incomplete...) Once you finish reviewing and cleaning out the file, you forget why you were in there to begin with and decide that it’s time to get some coffee. So you go down the hall for coffee. And nothing you started has been completed yet.

 

If this sounds even the slightest bit familiar, recognize that you can be easily distracted. Avoid jumping from one task to the next without finishing what you started!  If you find other tasks you should do later during the one you’re doing now, then make a note of it on your to do list and get back to the task at hand.  Don’t stop your own process to start a new one. Stay focused!

 

 

2.) Resist and Make A List!

When you think of things you want to ask or tell others, resist the urge to shout around the corner, talk through walls or pick up the phone every 5 minutes to do so.

In the best of cases, if it helps you in your productivity to pick up the phone and get an answer once in a while and you’re not doing it all day, then fine, go ahead and do what you need to do. But if you’re doing it all the time, here’s how it hurts:

 

 

If there are that many things you wish to ask or tell others throughout the day, request to meet when it’s convenient for both of you.  When you get the urge to shout out for what you need, resist and make a list! Then you can stop interrupting yourself and others so that everyone can stay focused on their tasks… at least for a little while!

 

 

3.) Is It Break Time Yet?

Then there are the coffee breaks, tea breaks, water breaks, snack breaks, etc, etc, etc… and yes, we all need these breaks, but don’t let them get out of hand. Use it as a reward system after you’ve finished several tasks on your list or the big, ugly one.

 

Keep yourself on a schedule of sorts. Decide how long you will work before you take a break. Kill two birds with one stone and take your coffee mug with you if you’re pulled down the hall by someone else for another reason.

 

A few of these types of breaks are normal, but too many breaks like these could mean that you’re procrastinating… either you’re bored or you don’t know what to do next or you don’t like what you’re doing at all. You can waste all sorts of time if you suffer from one of these scenarios.

So to summarize in all instances of interruptions: Take control! Your goal achievement and success rest on many factors, not the least of which is how well you use and protect your time.

 

Take stock of how you’re spending your time at work. Make some changes that can impact your productivity today and your goal achievement for tomorrow… and be in charge of your own “Work Story.”