Managing Interruptions

In todays world we have more interruptions than ever before. Even though we have more technology to help us become more efficient, we are becoming less productive because of the number of interruptions these cause us. Lets take for example an office worker who checks their email every time they get one and never really doing any work of real value. Today we are letting emails, phone calls and distractions run our lives and reacting to these things as if they are the most important things to get done.

I used to be in this position. Basically being available 24/7. I had an alert on my blackberry every time I got an email and would check it straight away. I would answer calls and reply to text messages instantly and would feel anxious if I didn't.

At the end of the day I would feel like I had got a lot done although when I reviewed my day I realized that I had not got any work done of real value towards my main goals. After reading some books on time management and productivity I learned a way to stop this happening. The method is actually very simple but it surprises me how many people are still available 24/7.

Make a list each day of the people you need to call or email. Now block out two times during the day when you will check email, make phone calls and answer phone calls. During this time you will go through your list and make all your calls at once. Make a habit of doing this only twice or three times a day. At first you may be tempted to answer all calls as they come or check email every half an hour but realize that this is just a habit and by sticking to the process it will eventually feel normal.

By adding this process you will get more important work done during the day and most importantly you will have more peace of mind. Start implementing this today!