How to Prevent Interruptions at Work: 5 Ways to Protect Your Focus Time

You can watch my video by clicking on the graphic below or read my thoughts beneath it:

Is there a way to prevent all interruptions at work? I wish there were a magic wand we could wave that would end every single one of them. But the thing is, if you’re going to work with humans, you’re going to have some kind of interruption at any given time. What you can do is cut back on how often it happens.

First, protect your brain time and say so out loud. If you know you need a serious stretch of heavy thinking, let your colleagues know that your door is going to be shut for 30 minutes, from this time to this time, because you’ve got to get that work done. And the only reason why somebody should knock is because they have an emergency – and of course, it’s important to define what an emergency is.

Second, cut back on the number of questions coming at you. Questions aren’t bad unless they could have been prevented. And a lot of questions can be prevented if team meetings are more productive. When those meetings are productive, the questions stop showing up at your desk one at a time.

Third, pay attention to the pattern of who is doing the interrupting and why. Sometimes it’s a direct report or a colleague who is unsure of themselves, so they need assurance. If that’s the case, you want to help them build up their confidence so that way they’re not always stopping by to get that reassurance.

Fourth, look at whether people are clear on the objective. Another reason why people stop by and interrupt is because they’re not clear on what the objective was. So at the beginning of any task or project, you want to make sure that gets clarified to help cut back on the interruptions.

Fifth, there’s the person who just wants to stop by and chat. Of course, you don’t want to just shut the door on them and say, hey, never bother me again. But there’s also a time and a place for that. If there’s a pattern to that person who’s stopping by for a chitchat, how about you make arrangements with them to meet for coffee once a week? That’s your time to catch up on what’s going on and to ask each other any questions, like an informal one-to-one. And you can explain that it’s going to help both of you get more work done more efficiently so that way you can have a life outside of work. Make sure you explain what the benefit is.

So those are a few ways that you can cut back on interruptions. Of course, you can’t zero them out forever if you work with humans, but follow these steps and you can help prevent quite a few of them.

Want more practical strategies for protecting your focus time? Check out The Inefficiency Assassin: Time Management Tactics for Working Smarter, Not Longer.