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Jan 6, 2023
Brenda Smyth
Who among us hasn’t been deeply involved in a project at work — concentrating as your mind solves problems, arranges data, and sails toward completion — only to be interrupted by your boss or a co-worker: “Hey, you got a second?” It’s unintentional. Most of these time bandits are completely unaware of the magnificent train of thought they’ve just derailed.
You stop. You listen. You shift gears. Then, you turn back toward your project …. Where was I? How long does it take you to regain your momentum? Do you ever get those ideas back?
Interruptions and distractions are everywhere in most offices. They’re part of every workplace. And they’re not just people. They’re the clutter on your desk, the unfiled documents — both on your desk and on your computer desktop. Sure, social media is a distraction at work, but according to Jason Fried, cofounder & CEO of Basecamp, at least you choose the timing of these diversions — like the “smoke break” of old.
In addition to lost time and productivity, distractions can also cause errors. You go back to the project you were working on, and the interruption causes you to lose your place or forget a key date or component. In the health-care industry, one field where mistakes can have dire consequences, distractions and interruptions have been linked to errors in patient care. Many health-care organizations have developed systematic approaches to interruptions — a list of critical tasks that shouldn’t be interrupted — along with methods to keep them from happening.
While consequences in many other fields don’t have such extreme effects, Fried suggests that we all “make the office a better place to work,” so we don’t have to go in early or stay late just to avoid distractions and get a lot done.
What’s the solution?
Some interruptions add variety to your day and help with work relationships. (All work and no play can be dull.) But when interruptions and distractions affect your productivity and interrupt your thoughts on a regular basis, it might be time to make some changes. The time you lose isn’t just the time of the interruption; it’s also the time it takes for you to regain your momentum and to recover your ideas.
Brenda Smyth
Brenda Smyth is supervisor of content creation at SkillPath. Drawing from 20-plus years of business and management experience, her writings have appeared on Forbes.com, Entrepreneur.com and Training Industry Magazine.
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