023: Pardon the Interruption

Know someone who is overwhelmed by interruptions, please be sure to share this podcast link with them: the-productivity-breakthrough
=============================

Back when I worked in corporate America, I dealt with a lot of interruptions. Part of this is because I am a recovering people pleaser and back then I was an active people pleaser at that time. So my office door was always open with my ear cocked for any way that I could help anybody that happened to be wandering by.

This gave me a reputation for being very helpful, and because of that helpful reputation lots of people would pop in with the ‘gottaminutes’. You know, "Hey Elise, got a minute? I want to bounce this idea off of somebody." 30-minutes and a bunch of whiteboarding later, they left my office ready for action and I tried to get back into the groove of whatever I was doing before the gottaminute.

Being the extrovert that I am, I would jump at the chance to hop into somebody's problem and help them solve it, often at the expense of my own work which meant I would end up staying late most nights to get my work done.

From what I understand from stories that my parents have told me, I've always been this way. Apparently back in first grade my teacher turned my desk toward the closet and away from the rest of the classroom because I would spend my time helping the other kids and not do my own work. LOL!

No matter where you are or what you do, interruptions are a part of life. Some careers and businesses are more prone to interruptions than others.

A couple of years ago a LOT of us started working from home and we had to shift from workplace interruptions to homelife interruptions. Especially with kids involved or even just needy pets at home. So, not only were you adjusting to how to be productive at home, you were dealing with different interruptions than you dealt with at work. And the work interruptions kept coming, except that maybe they arrived in a different form like texts, chats, slack channels, emails, phone calls, etc.

And now, a lot of people are heading back to the office and are going to start to experience those interpersonal interruptions, the gotaminutes, again.

It doesn't matter what form interruptions take, you already know that interruptions are costing you time, but did you know how much time? Studies show that it can take 23 minutes just to get back to where you left off. That’s after you’ve taken care of the interruption.

3 ways to better manage interruptions

1 - Set up a do not disturb time lock:
Time Locks is a concept Edward G Brown talks about in his book The Time Bandit Solution: Recovering Stolen Time You Never Knew You Had. A Time Lock is where everyone is given dedicated quiet time to concentrate. Whether you work from home or in an office setting, if you feel like interruptions are robbing you of your productivity, you could try the time lock method at home. You can have some sort of visual to indicate to them that you should only be interrupted for an emergency, like a stop sign drawn on a piece of paper. Better yet, have your kid make the stop sign for you!

2 - Set up a 'ready-to-resume' system:
According to research at the University of Washington, creating a “ready-to-resume” plan can help you shift your focus when interruptions arise. The plan doesn’t have to be extensive, you can just jot down where you were and your next step on a piece of paper. 10 seconds or less. Creating your plan not only allows you to get back on track faster, but it also helps you give your full attention to your little “co-worker”.

3 - Be sure your "to-do" list identifies actions that you can actually do:
Based on my years of working with people on this stuff, I can tell you that if interruptions consistently throw you off, your To-Do list is probably a major part of the problem. It means that your list is a mix of projects AND actions. If you look at your To-Do list and have to think about what to do next, your list isn’t helpful.
Your To-Do list should be a list of actions you can actually take at any moment when you are in the right location. So, do yourself a favor and make your to-do list actionable.

“Interruptions probably aren't your problem, boundaries and systems are. Improve those and you'll improve your productivity.”

Which brings us to the question of the week… What is ONE experiment you can run this week to better manage interruptions in your life and work?

Hop on over to "ProductivityBreakthrough" on Instagram and tell me about it in the comments or send me a DM. And if you create a do not disturb sign, post a picture and tag me in it!