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Some optimists will say 20 or 40 times.
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Some studies show that we lose around 1.5
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hours of work every day due to interruptions.
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Measuring interruptions is not an exact science,
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but rather something you feel
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and something that causes you a lot of stress.
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Especially for people who tend to monottask,
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those who like to focus intensely on one subject
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before being able to close it and open another file.
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If you're one of those people who,
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after taking 5 seconds to answer a question,
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need 5 minutes to get back into the subject they were working on,
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then this video is crucial for you.
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You will save time and more importantly you will lower your levels of stress.
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Being constantly interrupted during work time is the
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highest stress factor for 74% of employees.
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According to some researchers at the University of.
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emails are responsible for most disruptions.
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An employee is interrupted within a time frame ranging between 2
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It's basically like Chinese water torture,
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says author Thierry Venin.
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Before studying how to limit interruptions,
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I urge you to set up a diagnosis for your interruptions.
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Analyze your interruptions over the duration of a week.
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Write down the dates and times of interruption.
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The people who interrupt you,
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was it a conversation,
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or social media?
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The reasons why these people contacted you and the nature of this interruption,
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is it admissible,
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How urgent was the purpose of this interruption?
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write down all interruptions caused by various electronic devices.
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The pop-up notification on your screen when you receive a new message
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on social media or a new email or a news flash,
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you will surely find out
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that most of the time if we get interrupted,
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it's because we are willing to be.
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It's because we've opened the way for interruptions,
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whether it is by a human showing up in our office,
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a phone call that we choose to answer,
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or an email that we choose to open.
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The good news is we are not the victim of interruptions.
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We can in fact prevent a vast majority of them
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and free ourselves from the stress that they induce.
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If we come to the conclusion
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that enough is enough and we wish to be interrupted less,
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or let's be honest,
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that we wish to stop interrupting ourselves less often,
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then here are a few tips first.
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Learn to control technological interruptions.
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By deciding to put technology at our service and not the other way round.
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All our electronic devices are here to make our lives easier.
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And they have a great ability to serve us with more ease and comfort.
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our devices are not here to take over our lives.
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Sometimes it feels like our phone is whistling at us
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and that we go to it as soon as it does.
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and we reach for our phone.
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that the brain secretes the same hormones when we constantly
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check our emails as when we have a gambling addiction,
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Our smartphone whistles at us,
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the phone rings,
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an email is received,
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choose deliberately to interrupt our work.
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Smartphone users check their device every 7.5 minutes on average.
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So what are the solutions for these countless technological interruptions?
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Delete some apps,
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disable some notifications,
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put your phone on silent for at least an hour of work,
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or if for a meeting.
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Unplug your landline,
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Specific times per day to check your messages.
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Facebook has recently launched a news feed eradicator app.
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which you used to be addicted to,
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will now be replaced by inspiring quotes.
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Another tip could be placing your smartphone or anything that
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could distract or interrupt you 20 seconds away from you.
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The law of minimal effort
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makes us less tempted to get up,
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than if it were at arm's reach.
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to be less dependent on your smartphone.
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Allow it to run out of battery completely
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before plugging it back in.
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This gives you the luxury and the danger,
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or even the freedom of temporary disconnection.
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We saw that the biggest source of interruption was technology.
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our human peers are also for many co-conspirators in our
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interruptions when they physically come up to us and say,
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Here are some tips on how to
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better handle these occasional or recurrent disruptors.
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Demand that no general questions be asked aloud
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to whoever can hear in the open space.
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Let people know the slots during which you do not wish to be disturbed,
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between 11:00 a.m. and 12 noon,
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Tell your colleagues in the open space
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that when you have your headphones on,
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you don't want to be disturbed.
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set rules and inform those around you about them.
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Isolate yourself when necessary.
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Negotiate one telecommuting day per week to make progress
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on important files that require a lot of concentration.
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Isolate yourself in a vacant office or meeting room reserved
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just for you in order to finish an important file.
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Group your interaction times.
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Organize stand up meetings on common topics.
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Make all your phone calls successively.
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Answer your emails in a fixed time slot.
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Schedule regular appointments with your regular contacts.
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They will gather their questions and information and will
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not have to disturb you all the time.
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adapt your schedule so as to set the risks of interruption.
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Come to work earlier or stay later if possible when
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the office is empty and the calls have stopped.
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Dive into your priorities as soon as you clock in
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in the morning while everyone is still checking their emails.
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They will leave you alone,
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then later you can check your emails.
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concerns the optimal course of an interruption.
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Picture someone coming to you and saying,
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Can I talk to you?
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It'll only take 5 minutes.
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It's hard to say no,
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but you can always say
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I have to finish this first,
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then I'm all yours in around 45 minutes' time.
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If you choose to half open the way to a person interrupting you,
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do it with a smile.
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If it's too much of a hassle,
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it's better to say from the start,
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I'm not available right now.
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I'll call you back as soon as I can.
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even to your boss.
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After the friendly greetings,
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qualify your disruptor's request.
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Don't offer them a seat,
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if you don't want them to sit next to you,
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even if they say,
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don't trouble yourself,
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it's only 5 minutes,
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They will feel that you are not offering them all of your time.
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we were saying qualify your disruptor's request.
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What is the object of their request?
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How much time will you need to fulfill it?
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Go straight to the point with this qualification.
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Focus on the object
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and the time required.
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Now that you know what it's about,
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you have 3 options according to your availability.
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I'm available and I'm willing to respond to your request.
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I do not need any preparation.
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I have 5 minutes.
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and as soon as the time is up and you start feeling it's time to cut it short,
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you can sit back at your desk and get back to your computer,
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or you can pick up the phone
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and say that you have a phone call to make.
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I am willing to respond to this request,
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but I'm not available,
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or I need to prepare for it.
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when is the latest deadline for this issue to be solved and make an appointment,
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a quick one if the issue is urgent.
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If you think that the person can deal with this issue on their own,
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you can set an appointment with some delay.
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They will certainly find solutions before then.
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If you cannot or do not wish to respond to their request,
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it's not going to be possible for me.
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You could possibly ask them who can help you
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or point them to a better suited colleague.
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we saw that the best ways to deal with
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interruptions by taking back control over our time,
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our time with technology,
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and our time with our colleagues.
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To be interrupted or not be interrupted,
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the choice is yours.
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