Copyright 2006 GettingAGrip.comHave you ever come into work bright and sharp, the work at
your desk beckons invitingly, you can?t wait to get
started, and then the day turns to muck? One thing after
another claims your attention; the rest of the world is
clearly in conspiracy against your productivity, and at the
end of the day you collapse into an untidy heap of
exhausted humanity. Yes? Try these strategies.
Turn off or divert the phone. If you must have the phone
answered by a real person, divert it to a pager service or
another colleague while you attend to important
high-concentration tasks. Schedule appointments with
yourself for the big tasks There?s something about a
written appointment ? it gives you more power to say ?No,
I?m sorry, I can?t stop.? Either shut the door (if you?ve
got one) or make yourself unavailable in some obvious way
An hour (at least) of uninterrupted time every day would
transform the lives and job satisfaction of most people.
E-mail. Turn off your message notifier. Schedule two or
three daily non-prime-time slots for e-mail. A delay of a
few hours doesn?t matter - email shouldn?t be used for
time-sensitive matters. If we go there first in the day we
run the serious danger of being swallowed up by the
addictive world of the Internet. Suddenly the day has
vanished and it seems that all we?ve done is major in minor
things.
Skim. If you?ve been out of your office for any time, skim
your waiting mail quickly for peace-of-mind but then get
down to the most important work. Unless it really is the
most important thing, don?t let the new item steal your
attention until it?s the ?right? time. If you?ve got an
assistant or a PA, ask them to sort incoming material into
priority piles so your ?quick skim? of familiarisation is
even quicker. As with any technique, skimming has both
benefit and danger. Benefit ? you get to your ?real? work
with confidence, knowing exactly what lurks and when you
need to do it. Downside - if you always skim and rarely or
belatedly come back to complete you?ll soon have a Leaning
Tower of ?I?ll get round to it later? piles all over the
desk. Overwhelm becomes the dominant sensation!
Chunk types of activity as well as specific tasks.
Chunking focuses the mind. Allocate a piece of time to one
task or activity only. For me, now it?s writing, soon it
will be e-mails, then phone calls. Many people dart like
swallows from one activity to another and then wonder why
nothing ever seems to get completed.
Keep focus. When interruptions come in, decide whether the
interruption is of higher importance than what you?re
working on. If not, put it on your daily list or ?today?
action pile and keep going with the present activity.
A clear desk. The space in which you work (for many that?s
around your computer) is your potential interruption zone.
Keep it clear of distractions. Items awaiting attention
should be slightly or completely behind you, out of eye
range. Otherwise, while you work the stacks of ?stuff?
nearby wave invisible hands, shouting almost audibly ?Pick
me, pick me!? This is a huge and invisible energy drain.
The interruptions never go away, but we can control them.
----------------------------------------------------
Unlike most time management gurus, New Zealander Robyn
Pearce used to be bad at time! She's made all the mistakes
in the book and now brings hope to time-strugglers
world-wide through speeches, licensed training programs and
best-seller books.
