You have colleagues coming and going to see you, and they are going to take away valuable time from your work. How are you to minimise interruptions in your work? Here are a few tips that may be useful to you:
Have a daily To-Do list to prioritise your work. When people come a-calling, set a time limit for them. Say to your visitor: “I have five minutes. What can I do for you?” Then mentally see how their needs fit into your To-Do list. Answer any questions that can be answered immediately, then you can get back to your work. If you can’t do it immediately, tell them when you can. Alternatively, refer them to someone else.
Now, what if it’s your boss that walks in with a request? Let him know what you’re working on and then ask him which task should take priority. Let him decide and you’ll save yourself a lot of hassle.
You can also practise this technique of standing up to talk with your visitors and casually look at your watch. It’s a BIG hint that you don’t have the time. If they ignore this hint, try to move with them away from your workspace towards their own desks or the elevator, where you can conclude the conversation there.
Emails can be a big distraction to your work. Try not to check your inbox ever so often.
If you are calling for a meeting, your own workspace is the worst place to hold it because it can be difficult to end the meeting and get the people to leave immediately. If you have a meeting elsewhere, you can control when you want to leave.
If you are interrupted in the middle of a task, remember to make some notes to remind yourself where you were, so that it is easier for you to continue from where you stopped.
Finally, try not to contribute to office interruptions yourself by chatting idly with your fellow co-workers. It’s like practising what we preach, isn’t it?