FIVE WAYS TO DEAL WITH DISTRACTIONS AT WORK.
BEFORE WE GET STARTED:
What you will learn involves setting boundaries and perhaps retraining your co-workers. Chances are good that the percentage of people who violate your time is small. In all cases, you need to be professional.
HOW TO DEAL WITH "GOT 5 MINUTES?"
When someone asks you for 5 minutes, it is rarely just 5 minutes.
If you truly don’t have time, tell them so. And don’t give in. Stay strong. But polite. Offer a time later when you can give them time.
But if they persist, and you do have 5 minutes, then do the following:
BARRIERS IN THE OFFICE
Get rid of the chairs in your office if you are able. People who sit are more likely to overstay their welcome. They get comfy. People won’t stand for too long and they won’t sit on the floor.
If you can’t get rid of the chairs, put books, files, folders, and papers in them - taking away the option of sitting.
Share your calendar! You can share your calendar on Outlook without sharing what is on your calendar. Show people you are busy this way.
Get a ginormous wall calendar and put major projects and events on it for all to see. You want others to KNOW how busy you are. Remember, we retraining the people who have been violating your time for a while.
Use the power of no. Do you HAVE to go to that 2-hour meeting? Do you HAVE to go to the company 3-hour lunch? Do you HAVE to be included in the REPLY ALL email chain? Think about this: when you are saying YES to anything, you have no idea how many people or things you are saying no to because you can’t see into the future. (Or can you?)
If you’re looking to take your productivity to the next level or if you are interested in bringing me in to speak at your event, visit MarkStruczewski.com.
Join The 7 Day Productivity Challenge or go to MarkStruczewski.com/7day
Follow me:
If you love the show, share it with a friend on Apple Podcasts.