Use Your Tools - Shutting The Door On Interruptions - Part 2
Well, funny isn?t it, that something like interruptions can cause someone to ramble on and on... I was reading back over my article from last issue, and it occurred to me that there are other things that cause interruptions besides humans ? and that THEY need to be addressed as well. Here are some tricks I?ve found effective in my home office. They may not all be applicable to those of your working in a corporate environment, but they may inspire you to find a corresponding alternative. If your work involves hours a day on a computer, I bet there?s a good chance it also involves EMAIL. Perhaps my biggest improvement in productivity came from turning off my AUTOMATIC mail checking. I used to be so afraid of missing an email the second it was sent, that I had my Outlook checking automatically every 5 minutes. Isn?t that ridiculous?? Now, if you don?t get a lot of mail, then perhaps you don?t have this problem, but what happened was ? every time Outlook checked for mail, the little envelope popped up in my systray (the little bit down in the bottom right of your screen with the clock) and DEMANDED my attention. Because I got (get) ridiculous amounts of spam, there was rarely a time when it checked mail and found nothing. So, then, because I was addicted to this process, I?d stop what I was doing and go and CHECK that email to see if it was of life or death importance. Sound familiar? How many times do you think, in the past 6 years, I got an email that was of life or death importance? (keep in mind I?m not a doctor or crisis counsellor). That?s exactly right. ZERO. But, I can?t count how many hours I wasted checking mail every 5 minutes and then trying to get back to work. Now I have my Outlook set to MANUALLY check the mail... The difference is AMAZING! I can go for a couple hours at a stretch without being interrupted by the little envelope. Sometimes I even FORGET to check my mail and I LOVE those times. It reminds me that I took my power back from my technology. It?s great. Then, there?s the telephone. Now certainly, it?s important to take calls from clients when they first come in. And it?s VITAL to return calls as quickly as possible. But sometimes, it?s not all necessary, and sometimes, it?s even BETTER to let voice mail handle the call. Where I live we have this nifty thing called TALKING CALLER ID. When you?re on the phone with that very important client, and someone else is calling you ? this lovely female voice will interrupt and tell you the name or location of the incoming caller. You can then decide if you need to cut off your current call, put them on hold, or let the new call go to voice mail. Although it does interrupt your call for a second, it can save you much time & anxiety about missing calls, wasting time with telemarketers, or prioritizing. IF you?re expecting a call that?s simply info you've requested, hopefully you had foresight enough to request they "just leave it on my voicemail if I miss your call". If you work at home and share a line with the household calls (smart ring type situation), then you can differentiate between calls for the teenager and calls for you. And be honest, during business hours, YOUR WORK CALLS come first. Or at least, I think that?s how it ought to be. And a little more on the Instant Messenger syndrome. Oh, a blessing and a curse those little things are. I use Yahoo! Messenger. I ONLY use it for interaction with clients. I used to use ICQ, but got fed up with being solicited by strangers. I strongly recommend use of an instant messenger, but it does have it?s pros & cons. IT?S CHEAP. It?s a fantastic way to keep overhead down, and still have total access to your clients. If you have a microphone & speakers you can talk in realtime without racking up long distance charges. Clients like that. IT?S CONVENIENT. Well, most of the time. You can buzz or be buzzed and leave messages, all within your regular workflow. IT?S INSTANT. Hence, the name... instant messenger. But that also means INSTANT INTERRUPTION. Now, you CAN set most so that you don?t get a visual or audio alert when there?s a new message, and I recommend you do that. IT?S PRONE TO ABUSE. We all have ?em... clients who think that they are your only client and thus, you should be there the moment they need you. So be selective WHICH clients you give your IM ID to... :D RECORD KEEPING can be a pain. If you have a ?conversation? with a client by typing, most IM?s will keep an archive so you can go back through them. Make sure you?ve set yours to do so, if you want that. I forgot to set mine when I reinstalled last summer, and lost DAYS of notes & conversations. Obviously, the voice-enabled conversations aren?t recorded, so you still have to take notes. And so far, in Yahoo! Messenger at least, I haven?t found a way to SEARCH the archives, so you have to go through each day?s messages by hand to find what you need. (if you know of a search function for Yahoo! IM, PLEASE tell me) So, there are a few more hints for keeping your interruptions down and your productivity up. Use as required. Call me in the morning if you?re not feeling better. Happy re-training. About the Author: Kera is a small business internet coach, developer, designer and administrator. Offering complete business support from web management to book packaging to database design & deployment, her clients enjoy one-stop-service and continuity from Kera and her talented team of professionals. www.time4somethingelse.com Source: www.isnare.com |