You walk into your office, sit down and unpack your bag, possibly your lunch and agenda, like I do each morning. Then you turn on your computer, put your food in the fridge and head back to your desk.Before you can even open the first e-mail that’s marked urgent, your boss shows up and asks you to send him the latest sales report on the department’s products. Then your co-worker starts chatting up with you about his weekend. Then you have another person come to you and mentions that the printer is down. Next, your phone is ringing off the hook, but you’re worried about letting it go to voice mail.
It’s amazing of how many hours each person works in a given work week. This is all due to interruptions in the workplace. Productivity starts to slide downhill each time you are interrupted by someone and people wonder why statistics show that there’s a decline in productivity in the office.
Don’t you wish that you could set up an office at the cottage or even in a forest? I know that sounds strange, but when I was walking in the woods with my wife, like I do every night after dinner, I told her this. She laughed, but thought that it was a nice idea, since you don’t get interrupted by anyone. Well, maybe some woodland creatures, birds and the occasional passerby with a dog.
But then imagine the peace and quiet you would have if you could just sit back, relax and work away each and everyday without interruptions? Of course, you would need to have some sort of shelter, just in case of rain or snow.
Does this paint a picture of a typical day for you? It sure does for me. This happens to all great assistants alike.
But there are some solutions to this:
- Try to explain to the person that you are talking to that you need to get to something urgent and will handle the task that they are asking for when you get a chance. If it’s a personal matter, tell the person that you will talk to them during your break.
- Try to do things via e-mail or instant messaging (some offices like mine have this and can be a wonderful tool). This way, you can get to the question/task when you have time.
You can also find more productivity tips here.
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Until next time,
Take care - of your clutter!
Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips
6 comments:
Honestly, cutting down on interruptions and people who drain you of your productivity can only happen when you learn to be more firm about your boundaries and not give coworkers the impression they can pop in and bug you at anytime. Just like Cesar Milan says, you MUST be assertive...but please try to do it kindly.
Also, this trick may sound a little silly but, to prevent prolonged interruption in my office I traded with other offices in my building and got rid of the comfy chairs by my desk and put some no nonsense ones in a corner to serve as a waiting area to see the boss. I've worked here for about 7 years and people got so used to just coming in a plopping down in a chair for as long as they pleased to chat AT me and would even put their stuff on my desk and stare at what I was doing on my computer, the nerve!! So I had to bring that to a screeching halt. Now when people pop in to see (or bug) me they don't stick around long since it's standing room only in my personal space. =)
Tammi
www.administrative-assistant.net
Really great post! I especially liked reading about the tips you gave to help increase productivity in the workplace. I often find that taking notes immediately when tasks start coming in from your boss or other co-workers will help keep things in order.
My desk is right by the time clock and break room. Everyone seems to congregate at my desk. It can get noisy and I have a lot of phone calls to make daily. My boss sometimes comes to sit at the desk next to mine to get work done. Of course this means I am the one running back to his office to get files and such. He does not understand that every time I have to get up from my desk and hunt one piece of paper that I lose my train of thought on what I was doind. I am constantly being told I am not productive but yet I stay late everyday to help him finish whatever report has to go out. I have to put the calendar three places (on the white board, his personal calendar and Outlook). Yet no one understands why I get angry about changing things... I have to change it 3 places! We have a crappy computer system to top it off because they are too cheap to buy a new one. Yet they keep adding clients but no help! Sorry I know this has turned into a rant but it is EXTREMELY frustrating!
interesting article, thanks for the post.
Oh! dude you described every thing i do in my office too! i felt very happy . but my boss is very cool person.
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