How to Become UNINTERRUPTIBLE

How many times are you interrupted every day? Would you be surprised if the majority of your interruptions were actually self-inflicted? Whether you are an owner, a manager, or an employee of a large company or small I’m going to share three proven strategies to help you tidy up the edges of your "interruptabilty" and take back control of your time.

When I work with my clients on this topic, they often begin this conversation with a long line of logical reasoning as to why they are the one person by which all decisions flow. To be fair, my clients live and breathe a fast-paced culture where interruptions are in high demand. But in totality, all of us have thousands of decisions that flow directly through us every day. No matter, though, the capacity in which you serve others may not be within your immediate ability to change. So you must first learn to honor your season.

Toward the end of my college career, I began my first work in retail, becoming a teller for a local bank. I worked with some amazing people who taught me how to have tact and skill, even with a task as simple as counting money and typing numbers into a software program. In that short season, I learned I wanted something different from life, but I wasn’t able to immediately walk away due to financial responsibilities. So I chose to honor that season. I shifted my mindset from “I have to be here” to “I get to be here and do this work with these people for this time.” I set new goals and raised the bar for myself so I was never getting bogged with low-level expectations. By shifting my mindset I shifted my energy, my performance, and my expectancy that this no longer was something that had to be done.

Because most of my clients are, by very nature, “interruptable” it can be tempting to allow them, and sometimes myself, to fall into the trap of thinking that this is the way it is. It wasn’t until I met Joe a few weeks ago I was reminded that nothing is ever simply, the way it is.

It was a standard Tuesday demonstration. I was presenting my observations to Joe when, from the corner of my eye, I noticed a flash of a foot disappearing from the direction it had come. I looked up just in time to catch the backside of a man who had apparently peaked into the office where I was working with Joe, only to notice he was occupied, then abruptly shifted course. Joe never even glanced up. I was taken aback by this, even though I was in a meeting because this expectancy is not standard with my clientele. Joe had created an expectation long before I arrived that when he was in a meeting, and his office door was closed, he was not to be interrupted. Throughout the remainder of the week, this created the space for Joe and me to complete the tasks we needed to work through more effectively and efficiently.

Joe established a boundary. He created the expectation that someone in his office and the door being closed meant: DO NOT DISTURB. So shall this be for you. You must set your intentions early for a time and space that you can do what you need without interruptions. I start working one hour before the rest of my team, my clients, and even my superiors because I know that one hour provides me with a space of "uninterruptabilty".

But what about those self-inflicted interruptions? What if you create the space, you close the door, turn off the notifications, set everything to Do Not Disturb, yet you are still interrupted by your own self?

Here’s what a coworker of mine recently had to say about being distracted. “I was sitting at my desk on Monday catching up on notes for my next client when I noticed my whiteboard hasn’t been updated. I began to erase everything from it then started thinking about what I needed to add to it for that day. I turned back to my computer, pull up my calendar and notice I haven’t put my flight itinerary for the week after next on my schedule. I located the flight receipt then turned back to add it to my calendar. I  then needed to open another program to find a customer number. Once I’m there, I notice I have a new customer coming up in New York. Excitedly, I open up Google Maps to check its location. Then on to hotels in the area, then on to flights, then…in walks another coworker. Remembering immediately we had scheduled a meeting to discuss our client for next week, I realized I never finished those notes before all the other distractions came in.”

This will be that hardest task for you to overcome. That interruption, the whiteboard, was self-inflicted. The good news, though, is self-inflicted interruptions can be conquered. And I won’t even suggest you create more rigidity in your schedule. Don’t you have enough of that? What I’m suggesting, and have tested, is that you create more freedom. To create the freedom, you will need to learn to ask yourself the right questions. When you’re knee-deep in your emails and you feel like jumping up to clean off your whiteboard, ask yourself, “Am I at a stopping point, or can I keep going and have more time for that in a few minutes?” What part of that rabbit-trail was most interesting to my coworker? She would have told you it was looking into the client in New York. She was excited to be searching for hotels, flights, and entertainment. But that was cut short by the various distractions she created prior to her coworker walking in. When the temptation to flee from the task at hand arrives, learn to ask the questions that will guide you in having the time and freedom to do what you enjoy the most.

To recap it all, we talked about the three BIG things you can do to create an uninterruptable self. First, honor your season. Take back the power in your language and own that you are in control of how you feel about your circumstances, even if you live in an environment that demands your very interruption. Second, set your intention and expectation early that you need time and space uninterrupted to serve others in the most effective way possible. By completing the task at hand, you will have more time and attention to give to those who/that need you afterward. Third, create more freedom by asking the right questions. If you want more time to explore the fun aspects of your work, learn to ask yourself the right questions in order to focus on the tasks that must be finished first.

I hope this inspired you to level-up your "interruptability". Do you have other strategies that work for you? Feel free to leave comments below with your stories below!