Avoiding interruptions

I am not the best when it comes to avoiding interruptions. I wish I were.

However, I have come up with a few things that help me avoid interruptions and stay on task.

I keep a calendar.

This one is simple enough for avoiding interruptions.  When people interrupt me, I simply say that I need to get back to them and that I am putting a note on my calendar to make certain I do get back to them.

I keep a priority list.

What are the three most important things I need to do today?  I put those things at the top of my calendar.  I find it easier to avoid interruptions when I have a list of the things I must do.

I screen my calls or just turn off my phone.

When I have a deadline, I just do not answer my phone.  I can see who called from caller ID and return calls when I have finished my tasks.  Some people block the caller ID on their phone.  These are usually marketing calls. I ignore them.

I save personal calls and personal emails for personal time.

I let personal phone calls go to voicemail.  I have a personal email address.  Most companies have a policy against taking personal phone calls and reading personal email during the workday.  Getting personal emails mixed in with business email is the same as getting personal mail at the office.  No one would ever dream of receiving personal postcards and bills at the office.  Why then would a person open personal email at work?  Avoiding opening personal email at work is an easy way to avoid interruptions.

I do not receive emails updates from social media sites.

I do not allow social media sites to send me email notifications.  If a social media site is not important enough for me to check my messages on the website, I do not use the website at all.

I have reduced my email accounts.

Having to work with multiple email addresses created interruptions in my workday. Over time, I created email addresses for multiple websites. I needed these email addresses for different email functions in my business. Along with those different email addresses, I created newsletter subscriptions and membership logins. Today, I have consolidated those subscriptions and login email addresses.

I have reduced my commitments.

Too often, I offer to help with things where people could have done well enough without me.  I try not to commit to doing things that just are not necessary.  As I increase my commitments, I have more difficulty avoiding interruptions.

Learning from my mistakes

I take notes on mistakes I make that are time wasters.  Making a mistake is normal.  Repeating mistakes is nuts.  Keeping track of how I can avoid interruptions is healthy and sane.

Nearly everyone is difficult sometimes.  I have days when I do not handle things as well as I wish I had.

For me, dealing with people when they are being difficult takes a little patience.  I wish that I could say that I always had that patience.

When people say or do things that upset me, my first though is to correct them.   However, correcting difficult people can often turn into an argument or even damage a relationship.

I have learned a few ways for dealing with difficult people.

Nice people have bad days.

Sometimes people are difficult, because they are having a bad day.  Giving these people support and understanding can help them get past their difficult day.  Arguing with people who are just having a bad day can create hard feelings that go long past the bad day.

If someone says something that upsets me, I can let it go through one ear and out the other.  Often when people are having a bad day, the things that bother them are not that important to them or to me.

Confronting bad behavior

In two separate companies, I had situations where I dealt with workplace bullies.  Both men would correct people.  Neither had any authority.  Correcting people was how the bullies controlled other people.

They corrected people in front of other people. They embarrassed people.

We had people quit committees over the behavior of the bullies.  In some cases, we had people leave the company.

At each company, I met with the men and discussed their behavior.  In both cases, I focused the discussion on their behavior.  I showed the facts of people quitting committees and the company over things these men had said.

At first, the men denied that their behavior caused the people to quit.  I pressed the issue with the facts of their behavior.  I reminded them of times when they had corrected me in front of other people.

Both changed their behavior.  They quit correcting people.  When I saw them in a private, I complimented them on the changes they had made.  I told them that making personal changes is hard, but that they had made large personal changes that helped other people.

Confronting bad behavior is an important skill in dealing with difficult people.

Loosen up.

Sometimes when people bother me, I just need to loosen up.  I just need to relax.  I can take a breath.  I can count to ten.  I can take a walk.  If I am hungry, I can eat a healthy snack.

I can remember that I am not right all the time.  I can let things pass.  I can take into account that other people are not getting upset about what a person is doing.  I can remind myself that I am not everybody’s boss.

Avoid acting when angry.

When I act out of anger, I usually makes things worse.  Writing angry notes, sending angry emails, making angry statements always make matters worse.

However, writing does help take the sting out of anger.  What I can do is write the notes or emails and send them to myself or just put them in the trash.

When I am in an argument, I can defuse the situation by asking people to give you some time to think about the situation. I can insist that it is just the wrong time for me to talk about the disagreement.  Then I can schedule a meeting with the person when we have both calmed down.

Focus on the job.

When conflicts develop over things that are not about the job, I just avoid them.

Arguing about sports, politics, religion, or outside issues is pointless in the workplace.  What is important is doing a great job.

I had an affiliate who loved sports.  His favorite teams were in Chicago.  He would taunt me about sports teams in San Francisco and Sacramento.  Most of the things he taunted me about were things that just did not interest me.  Eventually, I broke off the relationship.  It was just pointless to deal with the taunting over issues that really did not interest me.  I needed to focus on the job.

My co-workers are not my enemies.

I remind myself that people at my workplace are on my team.  Working with people instead of having conflicts with people helps everyone do a better job.

The rah-rah rituals of sports teams creates bonds among the team members.  I show respect to my co-workers and thank them for their help.  I tell them that it is great to be a member of the same team.  I tell people they did a great job.

Become a great listener.

I like to talk. I like other people to listen to what I have to say.

It is good for me to remember that other people like to talk as well.  On some days, people really need people to listen to them.  They may just need to decompress.  They just need to let the air out of the bag.  In this case, letting the person vent a little is all that I need to do to get past the conflict.

By listening, I can learn from people, even difficult people.

Return the discussion to work matters.

When people are talking too long about the things that are bothering them, I can help end the conversation.  I do not ask questions that will just extend the conversation.  When I see that people have said that they need to said, I change the subject back to work.

 Dealing with difficult people is a skill.

Learning to deal with difficult people is a skill that helps me at work, among friends, volunteer committees, and even public places.

I am not always perfect at dealing with difficult people, but I can practice developing the skill and get better through practice.

Social media strategy for careers and business

Do you post on social media for your job or your business?  Jobs seekers find social media a great place to promote their career move.   Businesses market their products through social media pages and membership groups.

The time to build your audience on social media is before you actually need it.  If you find yourself in need of a job and you have no one in your social media network, you are less competitive than a person who has thousands of people in their network.

If you are managing a business that is planning a brand launch next year and have no business pages on social media, you are in a less competitive position than a company that has business pages with thousands of likes and followers.

As you build your audience on social media, you will be more effective by posting when your audience is online to see your post.

Best Times to Make Social Media Post

The best times to make social media post can vary with the audience and the product.  You can track your own results.  Pay attention to when you get the most likes, profile views, and comments.

I find that these are best times for me to post on social media is at the start of the day.

I have been lucky to live in a dry climate. My neighborhood paved bike and running paths.

Walking to work for me takes twenty minutes and is a more comfortable commute than the one most drivers make on the freeways.

However, not every one has the comfortable climate and walkway I have.  People who have to make daily decisions on whether they should walk to work because of the weather have a more difficult time of building a walking habit.

Census Bureau on Walking

“The Census Bureau’s most recent report,  “Modes Less Traveled — Bicycling and Walking to Work in the United States: 2008-2012,” shows that walking to work has remained unchanged since 2000 after steadily decreasing since 1980. In 1980, 5.6 percent of workers walked to work, and that rate declined to 2.9 percent by 2000. However, in the 2008-2012 period, the rate of walkers remained statistically unchanged from 2000. Among larger cities, Boston had the highest rate of walking to work at 15.1 percent.”
via Walking to Work Remains Unchanged from 2000 – American Community Survey (ACS) – Newsroom – U.S. Census Bureau.

Local governments are creating more bike paths and walkways for safe commutes.  Officials do see the alternative methods of transportation as important to the local transpiration options.

As walking places become safer, more convenient, and more beautifully landscaped to make them interesting and attractive, walking and biking becomes a fun way to commute.