101: GUARD YOUR TIME
Having your time hijacked by other people can derail the work you had planned for the day. When you are in a management role, the effects can be even more significant, and the distractions and interruptions more numerous. Effective time management is also crucial to thoughtful decision-making. Here are three ways to ensure you keep your planned work on track, sidestepping pitfalls that you deem non-essential (at least for the moment):
Bundle pick-your-brain requests together. Of course you want to help someone coming up through the ranks in the industry or new graduates, and you may get a lot of these requests. An article by Laura McMullen of Money.USNews.com suggests bundling these requests together. Maybe once a month you dedicate an hour: four 15-minute phone calls or two 30-minute coffee meetings. The article also suggests referring requests to more suitable colleagues when possible, or making a FAQ list you can send to those who may have the same questions as others.
Avoid interruptions TimeManagementNinja.com blog author Craig Jarrow advises a quick greeting, then, “How can I help you?” when answering the phone, to get right to the matter at hand. Don't answer the phone if you're busy. “When people come to your office or cubicle, get up and meet them. In other words, do not allow them to get comfortable. They may assume you were headed somewhere. Either way, they will be more likely to get to their issue immediately,” he writes.
Batch meetings together and block off time to do real work, says Mike Torres of Refocuser.com, time that is set aside for projects and tasks. “You need dedicated, continuous time. Time to get ramped up, into a zone and time to finish. Creative work is hard and isn't usually done in 10-minute intervals,” he writes.
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