How to Deal With Interruptions and Focus-Stealing Activities

I’ve come up for air to let you know there is something coming, something so big and so brilliant that it could transform the entire business coaching industry!

Much like a duck on the pond, I’ve been seemingly quiet, but underneath the surface I’ve been paddling like mad. 🙂

While I was putting it all together, I noticed I was suffering a disturbing trend of constant interruptions and focus-stealing activities.  So I went back to the drawing board to create a solution.

In fact it go so bad that on Monday at 8am, the very moment I completed my schedule for the day and stood up to take action on my first task… the phone rang and I lost 15-20 minutes right then and there, before I’d even touched my first task!  That was the last straw, I needed a solution and I need it NOW!

This is what I came up with:

• Break the day in to 15 minute actions.
• Use multiple slots for larger tasks.  Try to avoid breaking up a task, time is lost in transition.
• Allocate 15 mins to each planned phone call.  This creates a buffer and allows time for follow-up actions and miscellaneous tasks like toilet breaks and refreshments.
• If you have lots of phone calls to make, group them together to save time.
• For incoming phone calls, use the buffer, or reschedule.
• Be clear about how long you have for a call.
• Turn of all programs, close website tabs and anything that may distract you.  Bookmark and shortcut everything you need to keep.
• Allocate time to ‘distractions’ like social media, but only if you are using it for marketing.  Be clear about the actions you will take when using it.
• If you are in an environment with other workers, give them access to your schedule, so they can book time with you or know when you’re available.  Including when you read emails.
• Keep allocated time late in the day for unplanned tasks and call-backs.
• Keep a record of how long each task takes.  This will help for future planning.
• Keep a note of what you actually spend time on, if its outside the allotted task.
• Only write actions as tasks.  If brain storming is required, that is the action you schedule.
• For recurring tasks, add them to the original and block out that time.
• Disperse fun and energising actions with challenging and less exciting ones.
• Consider having a reward scheduled in for completing the day’s actions on time (and as a buffer).
• Allocate time at the end of every day to review the day, and create tomorrow’s schedule.

Using this method makes moving weekly actions, in to this daily schedule really simple.  It allows for unexpected interruptions and a method for dealing with them effectively.  By having action based tasks prioritised like this, it also means that you do what’s important before what’s fun, with just the right mix to keep your day energised and active.  You’re in control and you get to experience the perfect balance of focus, achievement and results.

Reward time can be very important to some people and a great incentive to encourage the completing tasks on time (or even early).  One of my mentors works on 1 hour cycles.  She works for 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of ‘me time’.  That way they sprint to complete the allocated task and have a really indulgent 15 minute break every hour.  They spend that time relaxing with family, on the porch, doing some yoga or having a cup of tea.  One of my clients has a clock on his PC that reads out the time to him through the speakers, so he can easily track his day.

You can have fun playing with this structure if you like, but choose a method that works for you and stick to it.  This is not a once-off, it’s a way of life; because Failing to plan IS planning to fail.

Click to get a copy of the sheet I use Day in 15 min increments.