Quiet Please, Manager Working

Interruptions are part of a manager’s day, as you’ve probably discovered. On another day I’ll write about how to handle constant questions and requests for information on a normal day, but for today I want to offer a specific tool that has helped me complete many an important task on time and with less stress.

It’s the quiet time.

You have a report to write, and the deadline is looming. You’ve made several starts on it, but never seem to get a big enough chunk of time to complete it, and all those distractions make it difficult to get your concentration back to the job at hand. OK, how much time will you need to finish the job? An hour? Two hours? Half a day? Decide this first, then block off that amount of time on your schedule.

So now you know you’ll be busy on the report during that time, but you need others to know so that they will respect your quiet time. Simply send out an e-mail saying, “I need quiet time on Thursday from 9 – 11 a.m. Thank you for co-operating.” In case you get a visit from someone who didn’t see the e-mail, hang a sign on your closed door with the same message. Most people I talk to about this don’t expect it to work, and are amazed to find that most of the time it does. The reason is that other people wish they had thought of it too!

Now of course some people will ignore your message and barge right in. If that happens, don’t even look up from your desk or your computer. Simply concentrate even harder on what you are doing to make it obvious. If your fingers are hovering over your keyboard, type something — anything. You can always take it out later if you typed nonsense, but it sends the message that you really are working. When the person speaks, unless it is the President of the company or your immediate boss, don’t respond. Keep typing! Eventually they will get the message and say something brilliant like, “I see you are busy.” Look up at that point, agree that you are under deadline and this is not a good time to talk. Ask if you can call them when you are finished, and usually that will take care of things.

Since interruptions are often cited as a major cause of stress in the workplace, it’s in your own interests to figure out ways to deal with them that work for you. I strongly recommend quiet time. However, this is one of those tools that shouldn’t be overused or it will lose its effectiveness, so reserve it for times when you really need it and it can be one of the most valuable tools in your management toolbox.

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