No matter how good your are at your job, you need to watch out for productivity killers at work. These are things that distract you from your job. They may end up hurting your work-life balance, as you find yourself having to do things, like stay late or work on weekends, just to keep up.
What if we could identify these problem areas? Recently, on LinkedIn, I asked my connections about these kinds of distractions. Here are their ranked problem areas:
- Constant Interruptions: 44%
- Meetings: 29%
- Last minute requests: 18%
- Social media/online world: 8%
While there’s no magic wand that can remove these distractions permanently, there are things you can do to minimize their impact. Let’s talk about some solutions.
Constant Interruptions
Imagine you’re in a good groove at work and then an interruption breaks your focus. By the end of the day, all these distractions add up to a lot of time. Every time your train of thought is derailed, you have to fight to reengage.
When you really need time to concentrate, try these tactics:
- Close your door or put up a sign at your cubicle that says you’re unavailable, unless it’s an emergency.
- Block out a regular time on your schedule, when you’ll focus on your major projects.
- Put your phone on do not disturb and turn off email and text notifications.
- Move to a quiet place, like an empty board room. You’re still in your office but not at your desk.
It may feel uncomfortable to cut yourself off and it’s not uncommon to feel like you’re missing out on important things.
Start small. Try one of the barriers for 15 or 20 minutes. Notice if you’re able to get more done and see if chaos broke out while you were unplugged. If things seem okay, then try extending the length of your barrier time.
Last Minute Requests
You’re ready to end your day and you get a request to do something else. Or you’ve finished a piece of work and then you’re asked to add something to it. In either case, you thought you were done with something and now you’ve got to do more work.
These last minute requests are well known productivity killers at work and a major source of frustration. While they may be a necessary part of your job, can you talk to your boss about the issue?
But instead of framing it around a complaint, take a big picture view that’s focused more on productivity. You could say something like:
“Right now, my plate is pretty full. What assignments should I take away, so I can maintain the high quality of work you’ve come to expect?”
I realize that some may not feel comfortable having this conversation but what’s it like to talk to your boss about a mistake you made because you were too busy? Even if nothing changes, you will know that you brought the issue up, rather than letting it burn inside you.
Another strategy would be to introduce some padding in your schedule. You’ll block off 30 minutes every day that is just for you. This way, if an unexpected request comes in, you’ve got some time to devote to it.
Let’s say nothing like that happens. No problem. Now you’ve give yourself some extra time to devote to your regular duties.
Meetings
Meetings are one of the classic productivity killers at work but they do play a role in business. People need to get together to talk things out.
The problem is that some take a template approach to meetings that ends up making them longer than they should be. As a result, your day is over packed with meetings. Keep these things in mind for your meetings:
- Challenge yourself to make them shorter. If a meeting has been a hour in the past, see if the same work can be accomplished in 45 minutes.
- Make sure attendees come prepared for the session and have time to review background material ahead of time. You don’t want your meeting to be made up of people reading.
- It’s very important for discussion items to have a next step. Otherwise you may create endless discussion, with no resolution.
Social Media/Online World
Nowadays, the work world and the online world are increasingly intertwined. Do you suffer from a fear of missing something, which results you being plugged in all day?
It can become exhausting, trying to keep up. What if you unplugged for a little while every day?
Then see if you really missed anything of significance. Many people find that 24/7 interaction with the online world isn’t necessary. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Let’s Create a Memorable Meeting
