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April 05, 2008
Dealing with interruptions
Interruptions are a fact of life in every job and in every company. It's one of the most common things people tell me drags on their productivity. Formany of us, our jobs require us to handle work as it appears, so the only choice really becomes to get better at managing the interruptions. I received a letter from someone recently asking me for advice on this topic:
My day generally consists of interruptions, and interruptions to the interruptions... I get critical items referred to me in the hallway on the way to handling another interruption... How do I keep track of all this and avoid the mental "stack overflow" involved?
Having "collection tools" on hand all the time is critical. Studies show the average adult can only hold 7 things in your "working memory" at one given time (+ or - 2 items.) That's not much and from what you describe, your working memory gets pinged constantly. Most people do these days with not only interruptions from others, but cell phones going off, new mail notifications, instant message, etc.
- Walk around with a small pad and paper in your pocket at all times to collect this stuff in a place other than you head. Seriously, go low tech with this. Pad and pen. If you want David Allen's version of this, it's in our online store.
- Don't be shy in telling people, "Hey, can you send me an email or leave me a voice mail about that?" If it's really important to them, they will. That way, you can process it on your own time.
- Treat yourself to what David Allen calls the Mindsweep as often as you can, and at least once a week in a Weekly Review process. Sit down and just clear your head. Your head is an Inbox, just like your email, paper and voice inboxes, so you've got to empty it on a regular basis along with the others to avoid that "stack overflow"
and get to stress-free productivity.
- Make sure you've got a physical Inbox (tray or folder works great) to capture your incoming stuff at your desk, especially when you need to reroute your brain quickly onto something else. For example, if someone interrupts you and it's something you've got to take, "bookmark your brain" about where you just were on a piece of paper and drop that into your inbox. You'll not only be more present with the person in front of you, since your brain won't trying to hold on to that place you just were, but you will also have a trusted place to go back to (your Inbox) to pick up where you left off.
- Take yourself offline sometimes when you really need to get stuff done. It will be easier for some of you than saying "No" to the interruption. Turn off email notifications. Go offline on IM programs. Even close your email Inbox if you keep getting distracted by new mail pouring in. Close your door, if you've got one.
Consider this: every interruption you take trains other people about how to work with you. If they know they can drop something on you at the last minute, they'll have no reason to think that's not the way to work with you next time as well. Are there any interruptions you are getting that in retrospect, could have been handled a different way? Good opportunity to do some retraining with those around you.
Posted by Kelly at April 5, 2008 07:03 PM
Comments
Hi there Kelly,
Wow and I thought it was just me. I work in a company where interruptions are part of every day, from both managers, colleagues and staff. You have some valid points, I feel that the most important is the ability to take yourself off line. We can turn mail off when we leave, so we should be able to for an hour or two each day.
Posted by: Ben at April 7, 2008 04:00 AM
Kelly,
I think this is one of the biggest issues with productivity. Disruptions eat way at your time and ability to execute on your plan. These are great suggestions to regain control of your time and productivity.
I think it's important to train requesters how they can help you become more effective.
http://marc.rohde-net.us/2008/04/interruptions-cause-lost-productivity.html
Posted by: Marc Rohde at April 13, 2008 08:28 PM
So true. Even with great management software, it's still easy to become overloaded with the "stuff" that interruptions bring. Thanks for the great ideas (Go offline? Oh, my gosh!)
Posted by: Laddie Blaskowski at April 15, 2008 04:13 PM
