We’ve always said you shouldn’t check email too often and that even a three-second distraction can be hazardous for productivity. Leo Widrich, cofounder of Buffer, disagrees and has found it useful to heed Zen Habits’ author Leo Babauta’s mantra for interruptions: “Deal with it only once.”
“Deal with something only once. Do it now. Then it’s off your mind, and you can fully focus on the next matter.”
Widrich says the “deal with it only once” policy works for three of the most nagging aspects of everyone’s day: email, meetings, and requests for help. Answer all as soon as they come up and get them out of the way.
It’s different from the advice we’ve usually given, but Widrich’s method could be the way to go if you think you will be more distracted by knowing you have a pending issue to deal with.
11 Expert Tips to Help You be More Productive in 2014 [Fast Company]
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Comments
One response to “Deal With Interruptions As Soon As They Arrive To Boost Focus”
At times when you are not deep in some major project, it may suit you to allow a set time, say an hour, to deal with small distractions on the spot. When you cannot afford the time to handle distractions, you have a tough choice to make.
That’s a great tip and the post on fastcompany.com that you’ve linked to offers a lot of significant insights as well. I recently wrote something of the sort myself, but I really wanted to write an article that can actually be of extra use to someone so I made an extra effort to express my own points.
Here’s the post:
http://clipup.co/blog/10-actionable-ways-increase-productivity-4-bonuses/
Would love to hear what you think!