At times I feel like I’ve got the attention span of a flea. I can be busily at work on something and then “poof”. Sometimes I’m distracted by email, other times I may be interrupted by a phone call, or it can be an idea that crosses my mind.
The thing about these distractions and interruptions is that, either the work you were doing before the interruption takes longer to complete, or worse, you may never get back to what you were doing.
“The average person spends just eleven minutes working on a single project before they are interrupted, and after being interrupted, it takes that same person 25 minutes to get back to what they were doing. *
Avoid disruptions and interruptions.”
~ Chaos to Cash: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Eliminating Chaos, Overwhelm and Procrastination So You Can Create Ultimate Profit! Chapter 2, Page 141
What distractions can you eliminate from your surroundings? What frequently interrupts you? What can you do to prevent these interruptions?
*Source: Gloria Mark, Professor in the Department of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine.
I’ve become diligent about scheduling e-mail management time as well as meeting times when I’m available. I hate “drive-by” meetings – someone just drops in with a question or to chat. The statistics of lost time are staggering – thanks for sharing!