11Managing the Phone and Interruptions
Be sure, when you think you are being extremely tactful, that you are not in reality running away from something you ought to face.
—FRANK MEDLICOTT
The definition of an interruption is an activity that stops or temporarily stops another activity. It doesn’t say whether the activity is part of your job or not. In fact, interruptions come in varying degrees, from worthwhile to simple “relationship building.” Interruptions are part of our job, but they can really ruin a day.
WHY INTERRUPTIONS CAN BE SO DAMAGING
1. They can slow you down a little or completely derail you.
2. When we have more than one interruption back-to-back, we tend to lose focus.
3. They can make it difficult to stay with one task for an ...
Get Organizing for Success, Second Edition, 2nd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
