Whether you run your business from a home office, or you work in a corporate environment, interruptions at work are a fact of life.  In fact, they’re a central element in many jobs, and as a result, there’s a need to adjust and work with very short periods of concentration.

That doesn’t mean you should sit back and blindly accept all interruptions.  These tips will show you how to minimize those that are unnecessary as well as give you ideas to make the most out whatever focus time you have in between.

• Get to the real issue, eliminate the interruption.
  Keep a simple “interruption log” for a week – every time you’re interrupted (or you interrupt yourself) note it down, how long it took, who it involved, and why. At the end of the week, look for patterns – if interruptions are coming from the same sources/people, perhaps they need more training, you need to sharpen your delegation skills, or you need to learn to say “not now.”  If clients are having to follow up on things you promised by a certain date, perhaps you need to implement better systems so that things don’t fall through the cracks. (more…)