Interruptions. They make up the bulk of some of our days and represent your number one time management problem.

How often have you heard?
“Excuse me, do you have a minute?”
“This will not take long…”
“The boss has just called a special meeting.”
“Could you handle this? There’s a caller on line 1.”

To best handle interruptions:

• Remember your game plan.

• Use techniques that avoid interruptions are part of your job.

• Shorten unavoidable interruptions are part of your job.

• Realize some interruptions are part of your job.

Forgetting our game plan is what makes a lot of us trip on interruptions.
Does this sound familiar? You are in the middle of a major project and you have got a great train of thought flowing. Then the phone rings. Someone wants a reference for an ex-employee you are neutral about. You take the call, thinking that you will end it quickly. But the caller asks question after question. The call takes 15 minutes, not one, and when it is over you have lost your momentum.

You have an alternative: Remembering your game plan. You need to keep your priorities straight. Your priority is the major project, not the reference. You can diplomatically tell the caller, “Yes, I will be glad to give you that reference. If you only have one short question I can handle it now. If not, since I’m in the middle of a project. I will need to call you back.”

A number of simple strategies help you avoid interruptions. Often, your work is a land mine. Many managers are given offices to provide them with more privacy, but they face their desk toward the door. What happens? When someone walks by, the motion catches the manager’s eye. The manager looks up, the passer-by notices it, smiles, and comes into talk. Now two people are losing time. You’re less distracted by co-workers when you face a wall or window.

A person who screens your calls is an incredible time saver, especially on days when you need to concentrate. If you do not have an employee who will do this for you, you might find a coworker who will swap the chore with you. When you really need two hours without interruptions, he will screen your calls. When you do not need concentration, you can return the favor.

When you cannot avoid interruptions you can shorten them. Frequently coworkers will inadvertently interrupt each other to talk. Often this is enjoyable, sometimes it is purposeful and sometimes it wastes time. You can shorten these sessions by keeping your pen in your hand or your fingers on the computer keyboard as visible signs that you are busy. Also effective is to have a clock on the wall or desk facing your visitor.

While you can avoid some interruptions and shorten others, some are not only unavoidable, they are important. Many of our jobs depend on interruptions. When an employee interrupts, is that a loss or is it part of the manager’s job to open to workers? Some informal discussion that occurs between coworkers creates the base for resolving future misunderstanding. If a customer calls you with a problem, that is no interruption, that is critical information and a chance to resolve the situation.

All of this comes down to one bottom line: that handling interruptions calls for a set of skills and for a series of judgment calls. What you want to prevent is losing time by “going” with the flow. Interruptions are manageable.

Tags: Bad Interruptions, Good Interruptions, Interruptions