Mitigating the Negative Effects of Workplace Interruptions Nearly all professionals suffer from the same problem—getting interrupted at work. Getting interrupted while working on a project or daily task of the job can send many workers racing to get back on track or cause others to lose focus on what they are doing. Being interrupted while at work can make a person fall behind on their work and can leave them feeling like they will never be able to complete the tasks at hand or that they will never be able to catch up with all they need to get done because of the interruptions they face in the office. But business professionals and others like part time business students in Cheyenne, need not worry about being interrupted at work if they know how to best mitigate the negative effects of being interrupted while at work.
Plan for Interruptions One of the first things that a person can do to help stop the negative effects of being interrupted while at work is to simply plan for it. Whether a person wants them to or not, daily interruptions at work will most likely happen, so the only logical way to being getting past their annoyance is to plan for their occurrence. By planning for the interruption a professional allows for buffer time to be placed in between duties and activities. These buffer times will act as a cushion for the daily interruptions to fall on, leaving the worker with the time necessary to complete task. Some may thing that this may mean taking on less work overall, but those who plan for interruptions through the day will actually be able to focus on their projects for longer. And when interruptions are planned on but do not happen it leaves even more time for the worker to complete their tasks, thereby allowing them to complete even more.
Take Control of Interruptions The next step a person can take to limit interruptions while at work is to take responsibility for them and act accordingly. This means changing behavior that leads to interruptions such as logging off of social media sites, instant message sites, interoffice communication lines, and even turning off the cell phone if possible to limit the resources of interruption’s conduits. Some may even wish to consider hanging a sign on their office or cubical politely asking others to wait until a later time to contact that individual. Perhaps setting some ground rules about when others in the office can openly speak or communicate would likewise be effective, as long as the individual who does this can still remain in the know of important details. In other words, a person should take the responsibility of their own time to themselves and do all they can to limit interruptions at work for themselves. A word of caution, however, is to not shut oneself out
completely from the office as there still needs to be open lines of commination for an office to run well and efficiently; the trick will be to find the balance that allows a worker to accomplish their tasks while not being constantly interrupted.