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How many times has someone burst into your office with news that couldn't wait, only to find it most definitely could have waited? Interruptions can wreak havoc in any workplace, forcing employees to momentarily disregard their own projects and schedules in order to accommodate others'.

Interruptions Are Stealing Your Life

Everyone knows what it feels like to be interrupted. It can be irritating, sometimes frustrating, and always distracting. But what about costly? Interruptions, even those that seem like they're no big deal, are a big deal. Productivity takes a real hit. According to Gloria Mark, Professor in the Department of Informatics at the University of California, it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back on task following an interruption. And that's just one interruption.

Studies from Portland State University claim that interruptions increase stress, anxiety and physical discomfort, causing people to be more exhausted at the end of the day.

In my own experience working at a law firm, I saw firsthand how constant interruptions made it difficult to keep track of deadlines. A typical lawyer can have hundreds of cases, and each case has a long list of deadlines. You miss a deadline, and you may very well have lost more than the case. Law firms have been ruined that way.

Interruptions Take Many Forms, but the Result's the Same

In today's world of digital communication, it's no longer just a matter of people popping into your office or calling you on the phone. Email, text messages, voice mail, apps such as Slack and Google Hangouts, Facebook—the list grows every day. (Keeping track of all those platforms is in itself a challenge, but we'll leave that for another day.)

Certainly, we're better off having these additional forms of communication, but what do you do when these platforms—including the traditional phone and office visit—simply seem to increase the potential for being interrupted? Here are some of the most common sources of interruptions:

Text Messages

Text messages and instant messages can be a convenient way to communicate, but they can lead to problems. For instance, do you answer it immediately? Save it for later? Either way, there's an interruption in your workflow. Studies show that switching from a task to instant message or text message and then back again costs an average of at least 20 minutes of productivity. And if you wait to respond, you also run the risk of the message becoming forgotten or lost.

Dealing with interruptions from texts:

• Switch off notifications.
• Route texts through a personal assistant.
• Set aside specific times during the day to check messages.

What you can do:

• Ask yourself, do I really need to send this?
• Be brief and be clear.
• If you don't need a response, don't include a leading question or comment that would prompt one.

Email

Email can be a distraction on a number of levels. Urgent messages are often lost among less urgent or trivial messages. Then there's the problem of how often you check your email. Research suggests that by choosing to deal with email first thing in the morning, workers may even be ruining their ability to be productive later in the day. Some experts have suggested that the habit of checking email can be a self-initiated distraction when coping with feelings of discomfort in the workplace.

Email is also a potential source of “decision fatigue”—a state in which a person's ability to prioritize, or even accomplish basic tasks, is hampered by the mental exhaustion associated with making too many decisions in a day.

Dealing with interruptions from email:

• Schedule time throughout the day to check your email.
• Use tags and routing rules to sort and prioritize your email.
• Respond to your most important items first.

What you can do:

• (Again) Ask yourself, do I really need to send this?
• Stay on message.
• Make it easy to respond.

Phone Calls

When you need an answer right away or if the nature of the call precludes any other form of communication, the phone is still the best option. However, phone calls are particularly disruptive. And while they are useful for time-sensitive information, they actually take up more time than texts or emails because you have to write down any relevant information that you need to keep—and then make sure it doesn't get lost.

Dealing with interruptions from phone calls:

• Use common tools like phone number blocking to avoid unknown callers.
• Route calls through an assistant or phone management software.
• Schedule time to review your voicemail.

What you can do:

• Ask yourself, would a less obtrusive communication option work better?
• Be ready to leave a clear, direct voice message.
• Get what you need so you don't have to call twice!

Impromptu Meetings

When a situation calls for multiple people to communicate together and you can't schedule a regular meeting, an impromptu meeting is your best bet. But, by its very nature, this is the most disruptive, because it involves more people and it rarely has a set timeframe.

Dealing with interruptions from impromptu meetings:

• Block out time as unavailable.
• Record the meeting.
• Agree on a time to end the meeting.

What you can do:

• Ask yourself, is a meeting necessary?
• Include only key players.
• Be ruthless in staying on topic.

Reclaim Your Life, One Less Interruption at a Time

We've talked about specific sources of interruptions and how you can stay productive, but the most important thing you can do to minimize interruptions in your workplace is to build a culture of “anti-interruption,” or interruption avoidance. It starts when everyone in the office understands how damaging interruptions can be and when they are willing to commit to eliminating as many interruptions as possible.

Yes, some interruptions are necessary, but once you've committed to avoiding interruptions, you'll find that a lot of things that you once thought were critically time-sensitive are actually things that can wait. But to create this culture means a shift in perspective and willingness to adopt new ideas and new tools as you move to a new technological ecosystem. It isn't easy, but you'll surely find the boost in productivity is worth it.

 

Ryan M. Anderson is the Founder and CEO of Filevine, which is the top-rated case management system for attorneys according to the independent review site Capterra. From its launch in 2015, Filevine has focused on first-to-market innovation and award-winning design.