If you want to have a very productive day, you have to get a handle on managing interruptions. Get ahead of the game and start by preventing interruptions before they occur.
When you control interruptions and eliminate distractions in your day, you have more time to work on the things that matter.
Look at the things that keep interrupting your day or keep you from working on what matters most. What are the things that interrupt you the most and why?
What’s interrupting you right now? What can you do to put a stop to that distraction?
One common interruption is the telephone. It may not always be possible to not take phone calls or answer the phone, but there are times that it’s possible to have someone take messages, let the calls go to voice mail or place the phone on do not disturb and return calls later in the day. This is especially helpful when you’re working on one of your top priority items. You can keep working and know that you can still address the needs of those on the other end of the phone, just not right at that time.
You will be surprised at how much this simple thing can help increase your productivity level. Try it out and let me know how it works!
I mark interruptions as separate tasks, no matter how much time they take. If it is a 1-minute phone call or a cup of coffee, it is still marked as a separate task. Then I do some calculations and see how much time is spent on coffee cups. Really sobers down 🙂
Andrew, that’s a great way of keeping track of where your time goes. Finding things that work for you is what’s important when it comes to managing your time.