Limiting Distractions, 101

June 27th, 2008          Email This Post        Print This Post

Are you really focused on the work in front of you?
If you leave your phone on, have alerts from your email popping up, are signed into instant messenger, or have your office door open: you are showing yourself and everyone else that any interruptions are more important than your work. If you are going to work seriously, then act like it. Remove all possible communication distractions. Clean off your desk. The mere act of setting up your environment will help you to focus and start your work.

Each channel of communication has its own methods for limiting the interruptions:

Email: Close outlook or whatever you use to check your mail. Email is NOT instant messenger - you aren’t expected to respond instantly! Just to make sure everyone else knows, set up an auto-responder that says “In an effort to help you better, I check my email twice a day at 12pm and 4pm. If something is urgent (and please make sure it really is!), please call my cell phone at …”.
If you are thinking “oh no, my boss won’t go for that” - just TRY it. I have heard from people who thought their boss would yell at them, but instead the boss forwarded the message to everyone in the company and said “I wish you all would do this - that’s proper time management!’

Phone: treat your phone the same as email. Let it go straight to voicemail with a message like: “In an effort to help you better, I check my voicemail twice a day at 12pm and 4pm. Please leave your email address so I can respond to you faster. If something is urgent (and please make sure it really is!), please call my cell phone at …”.
If you have a secretary, or are willing to pay for PhoneTag, have all your voicemails transcribed and emailed/put into your inbox like everything else. This gives you one less box to check and saves you the time and effort of listening and taking notes. The simpler, the better.

Open cubicle / office: If you have your own office, close your door  - with a do not disturb sign - when you are busy.
If someone comes to your office or cubicle, stand up right away. In an office, this stops them from sitting down and getting comfortable. It also gives the (correct) impression that you aren’t going to sit around and chit-chat. You can even walk them out.
If a visitor comes over - especially if they ask if you are busy or if you have a minute - answer them properly! “Sorry, I am in the middle of something right now. How can I help you?” If they can’t seem to get the words out, tell them to send you an email. Don’t let them chit chat, get them to tell you what they want. The phrase “Sorry, I have to get back to work” can do wonders.
If you are working in a cubicle, wearing ear plugs or headphones will help send the message that you are busy.

Instant messenger: If you can, close it. If you need it open, set yourself to “away” or “do not disturb”. Treat it like someone coming to your cubicle/office - get the interaction over with as quickly as possible.

Cell phone: This should only be receiving emergency calls. If calls come in that aren’t, you can politely ask them to only call you on your cell for emergencies. Again, treat it like a visitor.

Lastly, handle everything that comes up AFTER you finish the work in front of you! Write it down so you don’t have to worry about forgetting it.

Similar Posts:

• Do you run your life, or does it run you?
• Finding More Time, Part 4: Optimizing
• Don’t re-act, pre-act!
• Being on time
• Sleep with an open window
• To Grow, Ask “Why?”