If resilience is being able to respond effectively to disruptions that occur in our lives, then addressing how we manage the daily disturbances in our workday is an ongoing opportunity.

Interruptions are the norm of the workplace. In our more open environment neighbor conversations can be easily overheard. Glass doors encourage stop by visits and meetings (OMG…meetings) ensure that there will be few minutes of the day that provide time for thinking.

On top of all the environmental factors is our own tendency for distraction that include responding like a rat in a maze to our email beeps, checking out the latest Facebook post, or watching the 30 second ESPN video previewing Super Bowl LII.

Here are 5 things you can do to decrease the interruptions you have in your day which will allow you to be more efficient and effective:

• Build out your weekly schedule by starting with the time you need for your most important projects. Get that into your schedule first and work other things around that
• Stand up when someone comes into your office to greet him or her and lean against your desk. It sends a message that you want them to get to the point quickly
• Arrange your office so that you are not facing the door but are angled away from it. That will decrease casual drop in traffic.
• Set up rules in Outlook that allow you to sort less important emails into a folder you can check once a day. Turn off all auto alerts for mail and social media!
• Manage time at meetings by starting and finishing on time. Do “time checks” to let people know that you have “XX” number of minutes to finish up this discussion.

Changing a few behaviors builds our resilience to interruptions and can help us to get back to the important parts of our work more quickly.

© Richard Citrin, All rights reserved, 2018

]]>