Managing work distractions

If you are plagued with distractions in the workplace, you aren’t alone. It’s one of the most frequent day-to-day work complaints we hear about.

For people with customer service jobs, interruptions are a necessary part of your daily routine, but for the rest of us, it can help to identify the source of interruptions so you can find the right solution.

We’ll list a few common productivity disruptors, along with some ideas for addressing them.

Noisy people: Loud, chatty, interrupting, or gossipy colleagues are a common complaint, particularly for workers in cubicles or open spaces. Here are a few tips for coping:

• If you don’t have a door, position your workstation so that your back will face an interrupter.
• Wear ear plugs or noise canceling headphones.
• Put a note on your cubicle that says “working on deadline” or indicating “open” and “quiet” hours.
• Have an escape plan ready if you are interrupted.
• If you are under serious pressure, see if there is an alternate, quiet place to work for a few hours.
• Talk to your manager about instituting quiet times. It could be an hour or two every morning.
• If someone is a habitual offender, have a one-to-one talk with him/her and request cooperation.
• Ask your manager to make “distractions” an agenda item at your next team meeting and brainstorm ideas together.
• If your workstation is in a high-traffic area, try training yourself to block out noise, which can work over time.