by Sam Brock

Make it hard for people to interrupt you—stay on task. If you look up and stop at the passing of every person, you extend an invitation for interruption.

Ask a simple question, “What do you need from me?” The person who is constantly stopping by to talk will be kept on track by your asking him this question. A variation of this question is, “Is there anything else you need from me?” This indicates to the person you are talking to that you are about to
move on.

Don’t interrupt yourself— failing to use an outbox, checking your email too frequently, or having too many open projects on your desk can all contribute to self inflicted interruptions.

Set aside uninterruptible time—in order to effectively do this, you need to be disconnected from the things that can interrupt you. Turn off your cell phone, close your door, etc. If you schedule this time, your staff will know when best to stop by or call.

Do the next most important thing next—we use interruptions as an excuse to not do the next most important thing. Just jump in and get it done