Interruptions cause workplace stress
Date: 12 September 2013
One of the biggest gripes in the workplace is interruptions. They cause stress, disruption, unnecessarily long working
hours and can lead to significant job dissatisfaction. On average, 28% of productivity is lost per day mainly through
interruptions of many sorts including emails - this can add up to as much as 2.25 hours out of an eight hour workday!
The knock-on effect of this is that employees end up having to stay late or start early in order to meet deadlines.
Fortunately, there are successful techniques that people can implement to counter the constant stream of interruptions,
as taught by Time Management specialist Robyn Pearce, aka ‘The Time Queen’. It is one of the most common issues that
clients come seeking help for. She has run an international consultancy that has specialised in time management for the
past 21 years. “There is nothing more frustrating than being constantly interrupted. Educate your team how to treat you
and don’t attend to each interruption immediately – unless of course it’s a crisis. It’s also important to remember to
turn off your email notification.” Research indicates that on average it takes 10-20 times the length of the
interruption for a person to get back to concentrating on whatever they were previously working on, so a five minute
query could actually be costing up to 25 minutes of productive work time. If that’s happening all day long then it will
affect stress levels and increase frustration!
In response to demand, Robyn is hosting a breakfast workshop in Christchurch on Friday 4th October 2013 focusing on How
to Manage Interruptions. She will be joined by local Christchurch business guru, Martz Witty , Managing Director of
Martz Group, which aligns chartered accountancy with the creativity of Business development. Martz will be imparting his
extensive knowledge on Explosive Growth - 4 Ways To Grow Your Business. Martz has worked with literally hundreds of
businesses and he’s yet to find a business that he cannot help grow. Those that struggle all have one common thing that
stalls them and this will be revealed in the session!
Workshop details: Getting a Grip Breakfast Club featuring Robyn Pearce & Martz Witty - Friday 4th October, from 7.00am – 9.00am at the Russley Golf Club, Burnside. Ticket price: $95 + GST. Go
to http://www.gettingagrip.com/breakfast-club/ for more details.
Side Box: Top tips for handling interruptions
1. Switch off the email alert.
2. In your email signature, state that you only check emails a few times a day and suggest recipients phone or text if
it’s urgent.
3. Put your phone on silent and in a drawer when you want to focus or redirect calls to a colleague if you can – even if
only for 1 hour slots at a time.
4. Block out at least an hour a day when no one interrupts you to focus on high-value activities.
5. If you’re in an open-plan office, use headphones to signal you’re busy – and to block out the noise.
6. If possible, use a quiet room or work off-site if you can’t focus at your desk.
7. If you always drop your work to attend to every interruption, people will expect that all the time and you’ll never
get a clear run at anything.
8. Educate the people around you how to treat you.
9. Print this off and keep it by your desk as a reminder!
ENDS