HOW TO PREVENT OTHER PEOPLE FROM DISTRACTING YOU

Yesterday, I was in the middle of a focused work session at a coworking space when someone tapped me on the shoulder. 

“Hey Demir! What’s up man…hey I have a quick question for you!…”

I looked up and calmly said, “Hey man, no actually, I’m in the middle of something but can you come back over in 20 minutes?” 

The truth is, I could have answered his question right then and there.  

But that would set a dangerous precedent for my office culture.  That it’s okay to interrupt other people any time you want!

If you’re anything like Carey and me, then you seethe at the number of workplace distractions you face every day. 

It’s annoying…

…not to mention, it’s destroying your productivity! 

Gloria Mark, a top researcher from the University of California, studied the effects of office distractions.  She says each distraction can cost up to 25 minutes in lost productivity. 

25 minutes! That’s insane! 

The problem is, how can you politely tell your clients, boss, or colleagues to “shove off” when they have zero consideration for your time?

Office culture is hard to change, but you hold more cards than you think.

The truth is, you can use simple psychological principles to subtly re-train the people around you.

In this week’s video, Carey and I share the 5 best hacks to prevent distractions from other people. (8 minutes)

So if you have a colleague who just LOVES to come up to your desk and tap you on the shoulder…

….or if you’re sick of getting “urgent” emails from your boss or client who expects you to drop everything at a moment’s notice…

…or if you feel like you can’t draw boundaries at work – listen here! 

Leave us a comment sharing your own hacks for preventing distractions at work and at home!

This subject has SO MUCH more for us to discuss then we could fit in an 8 minute video, so we’ll be LIVE on Facebook going deep on this topic.  Click here to view the live video. 

Additional Resources:

https://www.fastcompany.com/944128/worker-interrupted-cost-task-switching https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/280376https://lifehacker.com/5869367/how-do-i-stop-my-coworkers-from-distracting-me-while-im-trying-to-work

https://www.15five.com/blog/getting-sht-done-in-an-open-office/