4 WAYS TO HALT INTERRUPTIONS IN YOUR PRODUCTIVITY
We all know how frustrating an interruption can be to our productivity. Multiply that by what can feel like constant interruptions, and suddenly your day went by, and you accomplished nothing other than putting out the occasional fire. What can you possibly do to change this vicious cycle of interruptions?
“If everything is important, nothing is.”
You need to take back control. Now I know you are asking: how do I take control of OTHER people interrupting me? So let’s start there.
Evaluate your responses. Start by monitoring the interruptions you encounter. In a calm moment, rate them, on a scale of 1-10 - how critical is the issue that you’d have to address? Try to be objective and rate the problem, not the person asking/bringing it up. Compare that criticality to how you respond? Are you responding to a 2 the same way you respond to an 8 or 9? It’s easy to lump interruptions together and start responding to them all the same way when they don’t require the same response in reality. Noticing these trends is the first step.
Set boundaries. Get clear on what a level 8 issue should look like in terms of response. Maybe it dictates response within 3 hours, whereas a level 2 issue might require a 48 hour response time. Only you can determine the appropriate response for various issues that tend to come up and interrupt you. Establishing the parameters for your responses allows you to prepare but, more importantly, sets the expectations for those who interrupt you on what they can expect.
Align your response to the issue. With your new insight around how your responding and a clear set of boundaries around how you will address interruptions, begin to adjust your response to match the issue’s criticality. Start by reducing your response one notch at a time. If you handle everything like an 8, start moving everything that isn’t an 8 to a level 7 response. As you get more comfortable" with that, start addressing 8s as 8s, 7s as 7s, and everything else as a 6. And so on, until you have everything aligned accordingly.
Book your calendar to create space for interruptions. When you have an event or deadline that you reasonably anticipate needing to answer calls, make updates and respond quickly for a few hours, maybe even the whole day, that is not the time to schedule work that needs a lot of focused attention. What could you book for that day that can be interrupted? Could you work in blocks of 30 minutes with undivided attention and then take a break to check emails, voicemails and address anything that arose? Maybe it’s blocks of 60 minutes or just 15 minutes. By creating space and time in your schedule for the 10 (and the 8s and 9s), you can treat them with the attention and response time they require.
Shifting your response to interruptions isn’t going to happen overnight. It’s essential to focus on progress and making continuous adjustments. There will be things that just require interruption - a toddler that needs help using the potty can’t just wait a few hours. A real estate closing happening at 3:00 pm can’t wait 24 hours. But plenty of things can wait - 30 minutes, a few hours, or even a day or two to allow you the productive time you need.