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Look Out for Drop-In Visitor Time Thieves

27th March, 2008 - Posted by Meggin - No Comments

The following tips are to help you get people out of your office/work space (and maybe even your home). If it turns out that you are the perpetrator, stop bothering people!

1. Arrange your office/work space wisely. You want to move your furniture so that you don’t get or make eye contact with people who walk by randomly. If people need you, they’ll knock or call out your name – don’t worry.

2. Remove "invitations" for people to stop by your workspace. If you put candy on your desk, that is an open invitation to others to come by, dig around in the candy, chat a bit, and just generally interrupt you. [If you are one of the candy purveyors, it may even surprise you that sometimes the candy grabbers complain about what you do and don't have.] Whatever it is that you have been putting out for others, remove that jar, basket, box or whatever right now. When the regulars stop by, let them know that you’ve decided for the health and productivity of everyone in the office, you are no longer going to provide snacks at your desk.

3. Replace "How are you?" with "What can I help you with today?" Unless you are sitting around with nothing to do and are happy to just steal your salary from the company or organization, the idea when you are at work is…to get work done. Shooting the breeze with a co-worker (which is invited with an opening question like, "How are you?" doesn’t help either one of you get to work. "What can I help you with today?" gets the conversation going in the direction where you can assist the person with what he/she came by for. If the answer to that question is, "Oh, nothing. I was just dropping by," then you can respond with, "Well, thanks. I better get back to work so I can get this project done/get home on time/earn my keep" or whatever is the best phrase for you.

4. Explain to others that you are changing your ways. If you’ve gotten into a habit of allowing a person to steal your time ("Come on in – how are you?") on a regular basis; that is, whenever that person passes your door, use the next time you see him/her to explain briefly that you simply can’t chat on company time in the future. If you want to socialize with people from work, set up a time to see them when you are "off the clock."

5. Close your door. Whether you have a door or not, when you need to indicate that you are in the middle of a project, put up a sign that says when you’ll be available again. There are several available for free download from http://www.keepingchaosatbay.com/.

6. Tell the truth. If you are busy, yet someone has interrupted you, stand immediately and gently usher him/her toward the door. If the interrupter says "Are you busy?" say "Yes." That’s all. Don’t explain what you’re doing or offer an apology for not having time for the interrupter. Keep it brief and professional.

7. Praise the behavior you are seeking. If you are busy, but someone interrupts you with important/appropriate information, praise the person with that in mind: "Thank you so much for bringing me these reports, Jean. It seems that I get interrupted too frequently with unimportant information, but I really needed this. I appreciate it that you’re only bringing me critical information this morning while I’m working on this project."

8. If you have a home office, put out a sign that says you are working. Even small children can tell that the big picture of the clock (or some other symbol) means you can’t disturb mom/dad unless it’s very important. If they break in, immediately assign a chore that they must do (one of yours) to re-pay your lost time. My assistant holds out her hand for the $5 bill that her family members must present if they want to interrupt her (emergencies excepted). Remember to praise the behavior you’re seeking (see #7) if they remember to wait until you are "off the clock."

9. Learn to say "back to work!" and mean it. If the truth were known, there are times you might even hope for a drop-in visitor or maybe you’re even the one dropping by others’ work stations. Just say "Back to work" either as a signal to others to move on–or to yourself to get going on your work.

Oh, my. Some of these are tough ones. However, whether you can cite the statistics about how much time is wasted every day by drop in visitors, you probably already know this fact based on your own work life. Help make your time and everyone else’s more productive. Share this list.

Time thieves are part of modern life (sad by true). You have the power to prevent this pilfering of your productivity. Join others around the world who increase their peaceful, predictable productivity by receiving Meggin’s weekly emails:

**Top Ten Productivity Tips (http://www.toptenproductivitytips.com/)

**Keys to Keeping Chaos at Bay (http://www.keepingchaosatbay.com/)

(c) 2007 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., "The Ph. D. of Productivity"(tm)

Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do via seminars, workshops, writing, coaching, and consulting. For additional information on Meggin’s seminars, workshops, consulting, and coaching, go to http://www.meggin.com./