Emergencies and Interruptions: Do You Have Time for Them?

We all know that a well-organized person has a lot more time than one who lacks this notion. If you are not one from the first type then you should definitely try to become one of them. It can help you a lot. However, being well organized does not fix all problems; not even all time-related problems. Aside from the activities that you normally expect to perform in a day, all other sort of problems could arise. You could face all sorts of emergencies and other interruptions and unexpected situations.

So here are some pieces of advice you could try. First of all, when you plan your day, you should allow time for emergencies and other interruptions. All sorts of last minute, unexpected problems can appear, and you should be prepared to face them. If you leave time for these specific situations in your "to-do" list, you should not have any troubles dealing with them, judging from the notion of time that is. By doing this, by having some extra time each day left for these special situations that could arise, you can rest assure that you would never have to sacrifice time for other projects.

Secondly, besides leaving some extra time on your "to-do" list, you can also leave some time between the activities you have to perform each day. So, you should let your mind and body to rest a little before starting another task on your list. By doing this you can ensure that the quality of your next task will be much higher than if you were tired. And further more, if by any chance an unexpected situation appears, you can always have a little extra time on your hands that you could use.

Putting an End to Interruptions

Even if you can plan ahead for interruptions, they can be quite annoying and make you lose time and concentration. In addition, when you lose your concentration, you need more time to remember what you were about to say or do, and get back on the groove resulting to even more lost precious time.

If you want to become more efficient and to stop wasting all this valuable time, you have to put an end to interruptions. You have to learn how to address the situation so that you cannot and will not be interrupted ever again, by anyone. In any discussion or conversation, you should let the other person finish what she wants to say without interrupting her. This way if she wants to interrupt you then you can always say she has to let you finish what you have to say because this would only be fair since you had given her that consideration before. Establish the rules at once.

Also, you should make a list of priorities and schedule them. And then when something isn’t in your schedule of priorities and there is still a lot to do, you shouldn’t take your time bothering yourself with anything else for that moment. You should finish first whatever it is you are doing based on the list of priorities you have made. Only then can you start on tasks that weren't in your schedule. By doing this, you will learn to deal with interruptions.

Learn to discipline yourself first. Learn this and you will be able to handle people who interrupt your work.

Anti-Interruption Techniques

Quite often, having a carefully planned schedule does not mean that you will actually be able to carry out all your tasks the way you think you should. Not because you may not be able to stick to your plan item by item, but because other people might interfere with it. How can you deal with this kind of disruptive interference?

Have a look at the possible forms of these interruptions. The most frequent type is probably the one caused by people who "just thought they’d say hello": colleagues at work or other people around you who simply feel like talking and dub you the target audience of their discourse in this ad hoc verbal interaction. These can be kept at a distance from your desks quite easily: as garlic is said to ward off vampires, so can a simple, "Busy at work, can’t talk now" sign discourage such conversational intruders. Not the strong ones, though. For those, try adding a pair of headphones to your arsenal.

Things are a bit more difficult if the person interrupting you actually has a problem. The "do not disturb" sign can work against people in search of dialogue, but it is powerless against people who actually need help with something. They will find sufficient justification in their problem to interrupt you from your work. There is not much you can do in that case, except talk to them and make them know you value your time. You do not have to do it right then, when they are trying to get your attention, because that can offend them or make them feel guilty. But you can mention it in friendly conversations and, in time, they will learn to respect your time and you will be able to concentrate on your work better.

Of course, you will need to show the same respect for other people’s time. If they see you doing that, they will have to display the same behavior towards you. Soon, your desk will be the easiest place to focus.