The KEY to Managing ALL Interruptions:<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen it comes to dealing with interruptions there is a never-ending list of possible responses.<\/p>\n
The KEY with ALL interruptions is to STOP and PAUSE before you take any action<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n- – STOP, take a deep breath and evaluate the situation.<\/li>\n
- – Then, ask yourself, “Is this interruption more important than what I’m currently doing?”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What you choose to do next depends on many things – including WHO the interrupter is, whether it’s URGENT or not, whether the interrupter is a repeat offender, whether it benefits YOU or not, whether you’re in a state of flow etc.<\/p>\n
TIP:<\/strong>\u00a0Try asking, “If I say “Yes” to this interruption, what am I saying “No” to?” You’re essentially asking yourself “What are the consequences, to me, of this interruption?”
\nTIP:<\/strong>\u00a0If you find you’re welcoming interruptions AND not getting things done, you may need to have a deeper review around your motivation.<\/p>\nHere are 3 Helpful Ideas to Help You Deal with Your Interruptions<\/strong><\/p>\nIdea 1 – Get to know the source of your interruptions<\/strong><\/p>\nDo you understand the source of your interruptions, your interruption habits? Because when you do, you can respond effectively in future, instead of simply reacting on auto-pilot.<\/p>\n
Try keeping an interruptions log for a week or two – making note of:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- – What the Interruption is (name it & briefly describe it)<\/li>\n
- – WHO IS the Interrupter? (remember it could be you!)<\/li>\n
- – DAY & TIME<\/li>\n
- – TIME SPENT on Interruption<\/li>\n
- – WHO BENEFITED from the Interruption? (this can be very interesting to see!)<\/li>\n
- – How IMPORTANT is the Interruption? (score out of 10)<\/li>\n
- – Was it an URGENT interruption?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
As you write out each interruption you could also briefly ask yourself what could I do differently NEXT TIME? And jot down any ideas that spring to mind.<\/p>\n
Then at the end of a week or two, review your log looking for themes, common patterns and interrupters! Now you have the information you need to come up with a plan…<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
“The average American worker has fifty interruptions a day, of which seventy percent have nothing to do with work.”\u00a0W. Edwards Deming<\/strong>
\nIdea 2 – Have pre-prepared strategies for dealing with your interruptions<\/strong><\/p>\nHere are 12 Strategies for dealing with Interruptions in the Moment<\/p>\n
\n- Simply say “No”<\/strong>\u00a0to the interrupter’s request.<\/li>\n
- Delegate the interruption<\/strong>. This could be delegating back to a family or team member or to someone you know would really enjoy – or even benefit from the experience of – dealing with the request.<\/li>\n
- Give it back to the interrupter<\/strong>. “I know you’re more than capable of handling this on your own”<\/li>\n
- Reschedule the interruption<\/strong>\u00a0or request for a time that suits for you. Try “I\u2019m just in the middle of something\/a tight deadline. Can I get back to you tomorrow?”<\/li>\n
- Ask the interrupter to\u00a0schedule a meeting\u00a0<\/strong>with you\u00a0to discuss it<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Ask\u00a0<\/strong>your interrupter,\u00a0“Is this urgent?”<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Share what you’re doing<\/b>\u00a0and ask if the interrupter’s request is more important than what you’re working on.\u00a0This is a good strategy if it’s your boss who is regularly doing the interrupting.<\/em><\/li>\n
- Ask the interrupter for 5 minutes<\/b>\u00a0to make notes\/wrap-up so you don’t lose where you are.<\/li>\n
- Offer the interrupter a set period of your time<\/b>\u00a0to work on the interruption, after which they must schedule another time with you.<\/li>\n
- Ask the interrupter to summarise the issue or request in an email<\/b>\u00a0– including what they want you to do about it (you may even find they will go away and deal with the issue themselves once you do this!)<\/li>\n
- Buy yourself some time<\/b>\u00a0and ask them to come back in 30 minutes\/an hour.<\/li>\n
- Self-Interruptions<\/b>\u00a0If the interrupter is you, you can say “No, I’m not doing that now” out loud to yourself. Then agree with yourself that you will attend to your self-interruption later eg. I’ll look at that message at lunchtime, I’ll browse YouTube this evening, when I’m not working.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Important thought:\u00a0<\/strong>Remember that kindness and respect are essential – whether you’re dealing with yourself or someone else. It can help to think of it like this:\u00a0Say “Yes” to the person, but “No” to the task<\/strong><\/i>
\nIdea 3 – If you’re working on something specific, try to prevent the interruption in the first place:<\/strong>
\nHow to Prevent the interruption<\/strong>\u00a0(this is great for set periods of time where you really need to focus)<\/p>\n\n- – Go somewhere you won’t be, or are less likely to, interrupted.<\/li>\n
- – Close a door between you and the outside world if you can.<\/li>\n
- – Putting on headphones and listening to non-distracting music can put you in a super-focused zone, and also is an unconscious signal to others that you are working – creating a barrier to their interruption.<\/li>\n
- – Put your answer machine on and\/or switch the phone ringer off.<\/li>\n
- – Close distractions like social networking sites, email programs and email ‘pingers’.<\/li>\n
- – Turn your personal cellphone off.Wrap-Up<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Interruptions can be frustrating or they can be stimulating – giving you a welcome break. To handle interruptions more effectively you need to stop\u00a0reacting<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0instead take a deep breath<\/em>, giving yourself a few short moments to\u00a0evaluate<\/em>\u00a0how you are doing, and then make the best decision for you.<\/p>\nArticle by Emma-Louise Elsey and reprinted with permission from “The Launchpad” newsletter and blog at\u00a0The Coaching Tools Company<\/a><\/u>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Emma-Louise Elsey How focused are you? Do Interruptions Get in the Way of Achieving Your Tasks and Goals? How often do you get into a state of flow? You’re super-focused, you’re making fantastic progress and suddenly, you’re out. You’re interrupted. You pick up the phone to answer a call, you’re tempted by a “ting” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-el"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyhrma.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyhrma.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyhrma.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyhrma.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyhrma.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyhrma.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyhrma.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyhrma.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyhrma.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyhrma.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}