Ah, telephones. We love them and hate them. We declare our disgust with their incessant ringing - yet don’t dare to not answer, no matter if in the middle of dinner, standing in line at the store or even in the bathroom. We are slaves from the moment we wake.

One day I decided that I didn’t have to answer a ringing phone simply because it rang. Nothing happened. The sun shone and the earth continued to rotate on its axis. It was my first step to telephone freedom, and since then have learned a few interesting facts I would like to share.

On average, an unplanned telephone call lasts 12 minutets; while a planned call lasts only seven minutes. If you make or receive a dozen calls, that five-minute difference is wasting an hour of your time every day. An hour that you could be spending working on your business or at the gym. Today, why not try something new to reclaim that time:

1. Batch your calls. Keep a list of all the people you need to call along with pertinent notes and make the calls consecutively (during a block of time you learned about in my last blog). You’ll be in Phone Mode and get through the list quicker.
2. Make phone calls right before lunch or just before closing time.  The recipient will be eager to end the call quickly.
3. If you need only to give information, call during the lunch hour when no one is there. You can leave a detailed message while avoiding chatting about Aunt Martha’s knee surgery. 
4. State on your voicemail when callers can expect your return call. For example, my voicemail says that I return calls between 4:30 and 6:30 pm. That way, nobody is sitting around waiting for me; and if I am able to call before that time it is a pleasant surprise.

Keeping in touch with clients, colleagues and friends is an important part of our business and personal lives. But when needless  chatting takes over and we find ourselves talking more than working, it is time to stop and regain control.  Give yourself permission to take the first step toward telephone freedom.

Are you finding it difficult to finish projects in a timely manner, write proposals or even meet with clients because you are constantly being interrupted by telephone calls and unscheduled visits from others? You are far from alone. Did you know that interruptions cause us to lose almost half of an entire eight-hour workday? And that on average we are interrupted 6 - 7 times every hour? At this rate, how can we expect to get anything done?

The answer lies in learning a few techniques to avoid interruptions.  Let’s say you work in an office where you are clearly visible, so visitors invite themselves in for a chat because they have nothing better to do. A few ideas to discourage this include:

1. Stand up and don’t sit back down. By not offering a chair you are giving them a clue that you are too busy to chat. They’ll get the message.
2. Look at your watch. Tell the visitor that you have 10 minutes to meet a deadline. They won’t want to wait and will move on.
3. Get up and tell the visitor you are on the way to the restroom; they can chat on the way.
4. Reposition your desk so that you can’t make direct eye contact while working.
5. Hang a sign on your door indicating when you will be available.

Although these techniques work on the spur of the moment, the most effective way to work on tasks without interruption is by carving out blocks of time in your calendar rather than trying to keep all the tasks you have to do in your head. For instance, if you have to draft a proposal which you think will take about an hour, make an appointment with yourself for 90 minutes (to give yourself wiggle room) and block out that time in your planner. So if you block out 9:00 – 10:30 am, there is only one task you will be working on during that time: the proposal. You protect the planned time by choosing to not answer the phone, checking email or receiving unscheduled visitors.

Then, you can block out time from 10:30 – 11:30 to return phone calls, check email, and do a host of other minor tasks you can’t seem to find time for. A great resource to help you know which tasks you should do first is David Allen’s book, “Getting Things Done.”

I would love to hear how you avoid interruptions at work, so comment back and let me and the other readers know!