This is not news to you: we live in an interruption-oriented society. The ability to sneak away, find peace of mind, or rest is a challenge in the age of mobile devices. Furthermore, the noise level of society in general has been steadily increasing for decades.

Try reading a magazine on your front porch in late fall, and invariably one or more of your overweight, under-exercised neighbors will carry an ear-shattering leaf blower, taking the anal-holding approach to rounding up every leaf in sight. At work, our bosses, peers, and associates have no qualifications to visit, call, search, email, text, or IM throughout the day.

While each of us craves the ability to work without interruption at times, especially on very critical, challenging, or first-time tasks, we forget, en masse, that we interrupt others with the same abandon that they interrupt us. Worse yet, even when we have the ability to control our exposure to the next voicemail, email, or text message, yearning to know who has contacted us lately, we succumb and click and tap to see who our latest message is from. correspondence. be.

the rising tide

Current research on workplace disruptions paints a bleak picture. Undoubtedly, interruptions are on the rise. Basex, an American technology research firm, completed a survey revealing that interruptions account for 28% of the typical workday for career professionals.

Worse yet, on average, employees often have just 11 minutes to focus on any task before encountering another interruption. Thereafter, another 25 minutes on average is consumed before returning to the original task or project, if that happens that day. Other studies show that interruptions typically occur every three to eight minutes, and that once a worker is interrupted, there is almost a 25% chance that the original task will not be resumed until the next day.

It’s time to declare your independence. No one controls your schedule quite like you do, not even an overbearing boss. Most of the interruptions that plague you throughout the day are, in part, your doing.

allow or disallow

At some level, you allow most interruptions to happen; either because you think you have to be available 24/7, or because you fear missing a phone call or email that will make or break your quarter or, for that matter, your career. You fall into the trap of being too available, checking messages too often, and not trusting your natural ability to accomplish great things when you can focus intensely on the task at hand.

Here are some suggestions for taking charge of your personal environment so that you can be most productive in situations where concentration, intensity, and focus are essential: Surround yourself with everything you need to fully participate in the change process, which It could also mean gathering resources, people, and space, as well as making sure you have a quiet environment free of distractions.

Give yourself the hours or days you need to read, study, and absorb what is happening, and to make decisions about how you will apply new ways of doing things and new technology to your career, business, or organization.

Go “cold turkey”, which is not recommended for most people! Stop whatever else you are doing and engage in whatever it takes to incorporate a new way of doing things. This is enhanced by making sure you won’t be inconvenienced, bringing in outside experts, and gathering any other resources you need to be successful.