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Dealing with Distractions

Guest post by: Terri Levine

Article Overview: Distractions are part and parcel of modern life and the bane of every office worker in the world. You can't get rid of most of these distractions but there are some thing syou can do to make life easier.

Dealing with Distractions

Brainydictionary.com defines "distraction" as "That which diverts attention; a diversion." It also offers this definition: "Derangement of the mind; madness." I guess that's what happens to you when you've had your attention diverted too often!

Modern life offers daily distractions whether we're working, driving or even sitting at home trying to read a book. Most of us know what distractions are, and most of us have experienced "derangement of the mind" because of it, but most of us are not quite sure what we can do about it.

Writer, Clive Thompson, wrote an interesting article in the New York Times (October 16, 2005) describing the distractions in a modern day office, among other places. "Madness" was the description given by a University professor, Gloria Mark, who described how she would arrive at work each morning, eager to get started on her "to do" list, only to find that the constant interruptions meant she accomplished very little by the end of the day, and yet she had been busy all day long. She was trying to do "30 things at once", and that must be madness in anyone's terms, and describes a typical day in many offices.

You start one task, marked as urgent, you get interrupted by an email asking you to do something right away, you do that, then the phone rings with a request that you must drop everything to respond there and then, you do that, then you get an instant message with a request that only you can assist with and it must be done immediately, you do that, you go back to your original task and can't remember where you were up to and waste valuable time finding your place again and just get started, when another email comes in requiring your immediate attention on yet another "urgent" task or question.

At the end of the day, you've not started your main "urgent" job because all the many "urgent" interruptions of the day got in the way. In the real world, in real offices, this madness is played out every day.

Modern technology made multi-tasking very easy, but rather than use it as a means of making life easier, companies have used it as a means of getting more productivity out of each employee, resulting in the constant interruptions we are all accustomed to and now begs the question, just how improved is productivity? By all measures and reports, it appears productivity has worsened, not improved. The reason? Distractions.

Many people complain that their email is a major distractive force in their work day and it is one of those distractions that causes a dilemma for most office workers. It's one thing to advise people only read their email at set times during the day, but what if you are waiting on important information being emailed to you? What if one of the emails you are not reading now is urgent? The dilemma is you won't know if an email is urgent or not until you've opened it and read it, so you find yourself checking it throughout the day to be on the safe side.

As with email, any form of instant message or interruption means we are so busy all day long trying to keep up with everything asked of us that we never get the chance to stop and focus on one thing long enough to achieve it.

Studies have shown that it takes 25 minutes for a person to return to their original task once they've been interrupted and removed from it. With myriad interruptions, people simply forget what it was they were doing originally. Our minds have been expected to focus over such a wide variety of tasks and issues simultaneously, it takes that long for us to work our way back to the one thing that we had started to do in the first place. Researchers found that the constant interruptions play havoc with our short term memory, and all this "mental gymnastics" as it's referred to, interferes with our ability to be productive.

Some distractions are unavoidable and require self discipline, such as flashing banners on websites we have to visit for information. Unexpected visitors at our home office. Small children requiring our attention. The TV and radio playing in the background. Inappropriate office décor.

It doesn't look likely that all the distractions we must face will disappear in a hurry, so perhaps the best way to deal with them is to learn to manage them. So what can you do about your distractions and their detrimental affects on your productivity and peace of mind? Here are 10 tips to help you:

1. When decorating your office, choose subtle, calming colors and furnishings. Do not use bright paints and loud prints on the walls. Do not surround yourself with photos if they distract you. In fact, have nothing in your office space that does distract you!

2. Turn TVs and radios off if these distract you. If you work best in a noisy background, try some "white noise" like a fan running or a tumble dryer.

3. Educate your visitors and children that you are not to be disturbed during certain hours unless it's an emergency, and you may have to define emergency for them.

4. Ask co-workers to ask first if you are "free" before interrupting you - and do the same for them. Unless it is urgent, don't interrupt somebody who is busy working on something when you can easily tell them later, at the end of the day.

5. Use voice mail unless there is a good reason that you must answer every phone call.

6. Don't check your email every 5 minutes. Set your email program to only check for email at certain times of the day and this way you will not be distracted by the constant pinging of "You've got mail!" Tell your co-workers if something is urgent, to send you an Instant Message to alert you.

7. Use post it notes, or computerized pop up reminder software, or even a paper diary to record your activities - make notes to yourself to remind yourself what you are working on and when it is due. This way you will find your way back through the maze of interruptions more quickly and easily.

8. Think twice about using Palm Pilots and carrying disruptive message delivery hardware with you... unless you need the extra stress in your life for excitement! You don't need the fancy equipment that is simply going to add to your daily stress and provide even more interruptions to take you away from your important tasks. You can use a simple word processing program or post it note system to keep you on track. Some people even email themselves reminders!

9. The moment you are interrupted, you need to determine there and then if this is something you can and should do immediately and get rid of it, or if it is something more time consuming that you will need to add to your "to do" list. If it is something that you can do in under two minutes, like schedule an appointment for example, then do it straight away and then return to your main activity. If it is going to take longer, you may have to determine what is more urgent - this new interruption or the original task you've been working on, and schedule it in.

10. Use self discipline! If you work at home, YOU must be focused and refuse to be distracted by the fact your favorite soap just so happens to be on TV, or it's a beautiful day outside for a walk, or whatever your favorite distraction is... Sometimes, a good dose of old-fashioned will power can work wonders!

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Article Tags: distractions, email, interruptions, office, self discipline, self motivation, working



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