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Handling the Telephone Interrupter

Guest post by: Terri Levine

Article Overview: And you thought emails were bad... a major disruption and interruption to our working day comes from telephone calls, but as with emails, there are steps you can take to tame your telephone interruptions.

Handling the Telephone Interrupter

One of the most common (and annoying) stealers of time in an office, apart from email, is the telephone. Somehow that ringing or that light that shows you there is a message waiting seems to draw us away from work and onto the phone. This necessary tool is a nuisance also for those who work from home.

Unfortunately, we rely on the phone for important communication and it is one of those distractions we often can't ignore. Or can we? I don't recommend taking your phone of the hook because then you'll just be interrupted via other means as people seek to find out what's wrong with your phone.

Here are some ways to stop the phone interrupting you:

1. Let it be known that at certain times of the day you would appreciate it if you are not disturbed by calls... unless it is life and death urgent. Ask your staff (or family) to email you if it isn't urgent and they don't really need to speak to you in person.

2. Use your assistant, if you have one - don't have your phone ring directly to you - it can go via an assistant (even if your offices are in different parts of the world) and the assistant can know what types of calls get your attention, which she/he handles, and which aren't taken at all. Many times calls can be managed by your assistant or other staff members.

3. Schedule phone time - plan your day with time slots to make outgoing calls and to accept incoming calls - hold your boundary around this and in your voice message state the times you make/receive calls.

4. Use voice mail - let your voice mail take messages when you are doing your work and it is not phone time.

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Article Tags: answering the phone, disruptions, interruptions, phone, phone interruptions, taking calls, telephone



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