Work is hard. Distractions are plentiful. And time is short. – Adam Hochschild
Sequel to my last posting (If you missed it last Monday, read Part 1 in the previous post).
The emphasis on avoiding interruption to increase productivity cannot be over emphasised.
Read Lu’s story:
This is Lu!
- He is a Consultant in a Business Advisory firm
- Lu reports to a Senior Manager (Ilari)
- He has 2 direct reports (Frank and Kayode)
- Lu resumed at 7.30am on a Monday morning, prepared his to-do list for the day and set about clearing the 10 items on his list.
- At 7.45am… – Breakfast
- 30am… His phone rang. It was his mum.
- 00am… Needed data from a colleague, who’s on vacation, to continue the 1st to-do item
- 30am… Frank and Kayode reminded him the yearly appraisal was due
- 00noon… A mail from Ilari to enquire about a deliverable that was almost due for a client
- 30pm… Bose walked over. “Lu, can I have a minute, please? Assist me to format this document properly”
- 00pm… Time for lunch
- 00pm… Back to his desk. Now on 2nd item on his to do list
- 30pm… Politics discussion… Fuel Scarcity… Buhari recently travelled again… Be patience change does not come over night…
- 00pm… Still on 2nd item, his phone rang. Rushed to the bank across the road.
- 30pm… Back to his desk
- 35pm… Frank walks over. Oga asked of you. You need to see him now. It sounded urgent.
- 10pm… Back to his desk to complete the task from Oga.
- 30pm… Opened up 3 items on his to do list, trying to multi-task
- 30pm… Power outage.
- 00pm… Fire alarm goes off…he left for home
Can you relate with the story above?
| · Lu experienced at least 12 interruptions
· The average employee experiences 56 interruptions a day · 70% of these interruptions have nothing to do with the work · It can take 25 minutes to regain concentration after each interruption · 41% of cases, people never return to their original activity |
“The effectiveness of work increases according to geometric progression if there are no interruptions.” – Andre Maurois
Why all this story my friend? It is very important to be conscious of what slows our productivity at work/home.
I fall into the circumstance sometimes, but the principle of “taking back my life” is so strong in my subconscious that it helps me get back to the important things I set out to do at every point in time.
I hope I have helped someone TAKE HIS/HER LIFE BACK.
Have a productive day!
Author: Lu Abikoye
luabikoye@gmail.com
