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Other personal interruptions, such as your kids running into your office and asking you to bring up a web site they just saw listed on
Family Channel, or your spouse wanting to share some local gossip, don’t have to break your concentration. These interruptions can be controlled. Be sure that when you are in middle of anything of importance, that your family understands that you will be with them shortly and that usually what they need is not earth-shattering and can wait a few minutes.
Another interruption that can be controlled (or at least minimized) is time you spend going through all unwanted email that shows up. It’s actually a never ending step that has to be done but it is worse when you don’t do it. Most email programs and services give you option of putting certain email addresses on a blocked list or have any mail that comes in from a certain address moved automatically to Trash folder. By going directly there, you don’t spend time looking to see if email is anything of interest.
At times there may be interruptions from your daily routine that can’t be avoided, such as meetings or a trip to business supply store. For these types of interruptions, try to schedule them for same day… kill two (or more) birds with one stone. If you need to visit a client’s office, be sure to have a list ready of supplies you need to pick up at office supply store or other errands you may need to run that are in same area.
This is just a few ways to help minimize those things that come up during our busy days that we don’t have planned. Interruptions will continue to happen, usually on a daily basis. We just have to learn how to deal with them and still maintain our professionalism and productivity.
Janice Byer is a certified Master Virtual Assistant and owner of Docu-Type Administrative & Web Design Services (http://www.docutype.net), an award winning company that has survived and overcome the daily stream of interruptions that happen on a daily basis.
