Kickfannie TimeMatters

by Terry Monaghan for Kickfannie Operations

10 reasons why you never get anything done

You are addicted to your email

You let your incoming email interrupt whatever you are doing, as if what is coming in is more important that what you are working on now.

You are addicted to your iPhone, Droid, BlackBerry

You will jump to look at and respond to every ring, beep, or buzz, no matter who you are with or what it may be interrupting.

You can’t turn off your phone (desk or smart)

You will answer every incoming call, as if you have nothing else to do.

You can’t find what you are looking for

Your desk/briefcase/car is awash with papers, files, supplies and other ‘stuff’, and you spend way too much time shifting, sifting and shuffling.

You have an open door policy

People take advantage of it. Colleagues and co-workers stop by your door and interrupt you with ‘just one quick question’ or some non work related gossip.

The next thing you need to do on this project can’t be done

Because you don’t have that piece you need from the other department because the person who was supposed to work on it was on vacation/out sick/busy and you didn’t know that.

You aren’t sure what you are supposed to do next

Instead of asking anyone, you dive into some piece of the project, and only discover later that that part was already done by someone else.

You go online to research a topic and get distracted

By chasing various links down many rabbit holes. Three hours later, you still don’t have what you went to find anyway.

You are working without deadlines

So either everything has a deadline of NOW or nothing is urgent until you have heard from 3 people looking for your input.

You are spending your time in meeting after meeting after meeting

All designed to provide status updates, but no one has any time to do any of the work because they are spending all their time updating the status.

Now, you may think I was exaggerating the scenarios described here, but look around. I have seen each and every one of those things happen in just the last few months – with clients, friends and colleagues

How often have you been interrupted today? When was the last time you had lunch with a colleague that wasn’t interrupted at all by the ring/beep/buzz of a cell phone? How many meetings have you sat through with your phone under the lip of the table reading your email (or you have seen others do this)? Did you think no one noticed?

Sometimes I think we are operating as if the world will simply stop spinning if we turn off the phone, power down the computer, clear off the desk, and just focus on one thing for a while. Well, it won’t! Life will go on. The world will keep doing what the world does.

Sure, you might get an extra email asking you why you didn’t immediately respond to the first one. Would that be so terrible?

Are we really that addicted to instant everything that we can’t just stop and turn off all the distractions for a while? Or have we completely destroyed our capacity for focus?

The sad thing is we are all feeling really busy all of the time. The stress we feel is real, and the low level of anxiety and perpetual overwhelm are exhausting. This pervasive culture of interruptions is one of the reasons corporate executives report they feel lucky if they get 45 minutes of really productive work done in a day.

I remember a businessman I knew years ago who travelled a lot. He said he got more done in the 2 hour car ride to or from the airport than he could have done had he been in his own office. The joke at one point was that his assistant was going to hire a town car just to drive him around for a few hours when he really had to get a big project done. And he would not be bringing his cell phone with him!

Dan Kennedy says “if they can’t find you, they can’t interrupt you.” You might want to look at how you could make yourself scarce occasionally. Turn off the phone. Turn off the email. Close your door (or leave your office). Give yourself the gift of some uninterrupted time to think, to work on what is important to you and your business.

Everything else will still be there, waiting, when you return.

About the Contributor

Terry's clients find themselves working on what is most fulfilling and what really matters in moving things forward rather than what they previously thought they "had to do." The things you hoped to get to someday become the things you work on today.

With over 30 years of business and entrepreneurial experience, Terry's unique technology has dramatically increased the productivity of Fortune 100 executives and entrepreneurs in a variety of industries. As a Keynote Speaker with the Tony Robbins Power Team, Washington, DC, Terry inspired audiences in our Nation’s capital to “Eliminate the Overwhelm!” To learn more about Time Triage™ check out Terry’s website at www.timetriage.com

Submit Questions for Terry to answer at TimeMatters@kickfannie.com