I have exciting news to share with you. My book, It's About Time! Transforming Chaos into Calm, A to Z is out and available on Amazon! When the first copy arrived in the mail, it was an amazing feeling to hold it in my hand. What made it even more special was giving my son the very first printed copy! He was so much a part of this journey.
As I wrote It's About Time! I kept in mind that I was writing a book for people with little time to read it. It's About Time! is packed with useful and life changing tips and strategies offering a fresh approach, A to Z, for everyone - time-stressed or not.
The first review from someone who purchased the book is in. "This is a truly helpful book, and one that - kudos to the author - doesn't take a lot of TIME to read! There are helpful next steps, and literally hundreds of actionable tips inside. I consider myself pretty organized, but within moments of picking up this book I had found ideas for making life smoother. Grab it now!"
Benjamin Franklin wrote, "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." My hope is that I have done at least one. Let me know. I would love your feedback. Thank you!
Exciting News & Interruption Spoiler Alert!
n a recent interview with Nancy Michaels on her Reinvention Breakthrough Teleseminar, (listen to Mitzi's interview) one of the listeners asked a question about interruptions. It seems she was constantly being interrupted by co-workers or folks she managed and unable to get her work done.
When this issue comes up and it comes up quite often in just about all of my Escaping Your TimeTraps: TimeFinder's Productivity Tool Box workshops, I ask three questions to open up the discussion:
1. What can you do in the moment?
2. What can you do to get back on track?
3. What can you do to prevent the interruption?
The question of prevention is the one that will have the most impact in the long term. In order to prevent the interruptions, ask, "What are the causes?" Here are a few possible reasons:
- Lack of training or cross training.
- The level of authority they have is vague.
- Lack of good documentation or reference information.
- Laziness -- it's easier to pick up the phone or walk down the hall or email to get answers.
- Information isn't being shared.
- Not knowing who the appropriate "go to" person is.
- You are always the person who will give the answers.
- It's easier to have you do the work.
- Fear of making a mistake.
- When someone needs a break, you're a good person to talk to.
When you begin to understand why you're being interrupted, you can work on various strategies to minimize interruptions that recur. For example, if you readily answer one of your direct reports questions, try tossing the question back to them. Ask, "What do you think you should do?" "What should be your next step?" Listen to their response and confirm that they've got it and should go ahead. Or support them by asking questions to help them think it through.
When you give someone the answers and don't let them think for themselves, you become their crutch. You create a situation where they will just come to you. You prevent them from growing and you also lose time to get your own work done. Instead, build someone's confidence and leverage your time.
Take a step back and see what you can do to prevent interruptions and improve your productivity.
One Final Time Thought!
"Many people feel they must multi-task because everybody else is multitasking, but this is partly because they are all interrupting each other so much." Marilyn vos Savant, American magazine columnist (Parade Magazine) and author; formerly listed in the Guinness Book of World Records under "Highest IQ."