Leadership Viewpoint

They come in all shapes and sizes. People and behaviors that demand and then waste our time seem to blanket the day. What to do?

Junk Mailers
They hit us at home, at the office, in snail mail, via email, and even in our blogs. They put flyers on cars, and load up our newspapers with their brochures. We are inundated, and the effect is that we tend to look past the messages that we would actually like to see because they are lost in the shuffle.

Eliminate – Don’t even set the junk mail and flyers on the table. Sort it immediately and file it directly in the garbage can.
Systematize – Consistently employ spam filters, junk mail filters, and visually scan out the junk.
Delegate – Even if you don’t have a staff, delegate physical organization to specialists. If this doesn’t come naturally to you, find an ‘organizer’ and have them set up your work space for efficiency.

Phone Interruptions
Some people prefer phone calls for simple issues that don’t require discussion. The problem with this is that it interrupts, and likely doesn’t match your schedule or priorities. Then, once they get you on the phone, they talk, and talk and talk!

Eliminate – Tell repeat offenders that you really prefer email, or that you cannot spend time with them during the workday, or, when feasible, to go away altogether (depending on who it is!).
Systematize – Caller ID is a huge help with this. Screen your calls. Then, when it is convenient for you, respond to their voice message via email whenever no discussion is required.
Delegate – Often the people who drive me crazy are the favorites of one of my colleagues. If that happens with you too, see if you can have the colleague act as the primary point of contact.

Improving our use of time takes constant vigilance. Send consistent messages to those around you and do everything possible to clear your life of the distractions that deter your efforts.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!