Focused Business Action

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Sometimes even when there’s a lot going on around you, you still need to get work done. What do you do to ensure that you will not be disturbed?

• Use your door – I had a supervisor at a previous job who had a very clear signal for whether she was available to be disturbed or not. When her door was open, it was never a problem to enter her office to ask a question. When her door was closed, you were not to disturb her unless there was an urgent need or an emergency. It was one of the things she shared with you when you were first hired so she set the expectation up front and everybody knew it.

• Block or screen your phone calls – When I was in a meeting with the same supervisor (with the door closed), she would put her phone on “Do Not Disturb” so that her calls went directly to voice mail. In today’s world that is the same as putting your phone on silent.

  Another tip I used when I owned a computer store and would receive almost constant phone calls. There were times when I just had to get some work done, and there were certain people that I still needed to talk to. I told those people to ask for Scott David (adding my middle name) when they called. My staff knew to let those phone calls through and to take a message if the caller didn’t have the “secret code”. I still chuckle at the creativity of this early caller i.d. system.

Protect your productivity. I would suggest that for any business owner you need to have at least some time each week to work undisturbed. Schedule that time for yourself and use these tips (or similar ones) to own your zone.

If you have an office, close your door when you don’t want to be disturbed. If you don’t have a door to close, let those around you know that you would like to be left alone for a certain amount of time.

Turn the ringer off on your phone when it’s appropriate. Or use caller i.d. to screen your calls and know ahead of time who you are going to let in.

What do you need to do to protect your productivity?

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