Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that sometimes interruptions are the work. Sure, it's
Speaker 1: generally a good idea to be focused and to get
Speaker 1: done whatever you intend to do. But occasionally what seems
Speaker 1: like an interruption may be the most important thing you
Speaker 1: could do in that moment. So we have probably all
Speaker 1: been there. You are cranking through things, getting things done
Speaker 1: when someone pops their head into your office. Got a minute,
Speaker 1: or maybe it's a message from a new hire on slack. Now,
Speaker 1: you might want to keep doing whatever it is you
Speaker 1: are doing, but that new hire clearly has something weighing
Speaker 1: on her, and if you are her manager, supporting your
Speaker 1: team is a clear part of your job. You have
Speaker 1: to do the work that's in front of you, but
Speaker 1: figuring out what's bothering that new hire and how you
Speaker 1: can help is quite possibly the most important thing you
Speaker 1: could do for your team's long term productivity. Sometimes the
Speaker 1: interruption is the work. Sometimes the interruption isn't so much
Speaker 1: a person as a thing or event. There are times
Speaker 1: when we are wise to pause the planned work to
Speaker 1: respond to a time sensitive need or an opportunity that
Speaker 1: comes up unexpectedly. For instance, sometimes I'm asked to provide
Speaker 1: a quote on something topical for a news publication. These
Speaker 1: interruptions are generally worth my time because they tend to
Speaker 1: provide opportunities for me to broaden my audience. Maybe you
Speaker 1: get a call from your biggest client with an urgent need.
Speaker 1: Addressing that need and maintaining that client relationship may be
Speaker 1: more important than completing your invoices for last month, or
Speaker 1: whatever task it is that you had been doing before
Speaker 1: the person called. Sometimes the interruptions are the work now.
Speaker 1: I am not suggesting that people spend their work days
Speaker 1: in reactive mode dealing with whatever person or new task
Speaker 1: presents itself. It is definitely good to plan your work
Speaker 1: days and for the most part, to adhere to your
Speaker 1: plan whenever possible. At the same time as your work
Speaker 1: day unfolds, it's wise to be intentional in responding to
Speaker 1: perceived interruptions. Some interruptions need to be avoided so you
Speaker 1: can do the work that you planned. Other times you
Speaker 1: need to lean into the interruption and recognize the value
Speaker 1: of attending to the person who is asking for your
Speaker 1: help or the need to respond to something that is
Speaker 1: more important than whatever it is you plan to do.
Speaker 1: So when you perceive yourself as being interrupted, pause and
Speaker 1: ask yourself what you are choosing between what is best
Speaker 1: for you to do now. You might need to ask
Speaker 1: your colleague to come back later, or it might be
Speaker 1: better to deal with that issue right now, but make
Speaker 1: sure you are choosing this thoughtfully. One way to keep
Speaker 1: this choice from being frustrating is to have more margin
Speaker 1: in your schedule in general. I interviewed a business leader
Speaker 1: once who would spend an hour in a coffee shop
Speaker 1: each morning working on his most important focused task. That way,
Speaker 1: he could respond in a welcoming way to whoever stopped
Speaker 1: by his office or if employees stopped him in the hallway.
Speaker 1: He had already knocked out the focused work so he
Speaker 1: could be more relaxed about these interruptions. He had arranged
Speaker 1: his schedule so they weren't interrupting anything that really mattered.
Speaker 1: I think this is smart and might be one way
Speaker 1: to think about organizing your schedule. You can go silent
Speaker 1: and work from home days for a few hours and
Speaker 1: get things cranked out. Then you can purposefully be more
Speaker 1: interactive at the office. Sure, you might have been looking
Speaker 1: at your laptop, but when the new hire stops by,
Speaker 1: you immediately stop and turn and smile and make it
Speaker 1: clear that the interruption is just fine. You know that
Speaker 1: this is important work. In the meantime. This is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've
Speaker 1: got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at
Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.