One of my favorite distraction busting techniques is to “park” ideas as they pop into your head. Then, once you finish the task at hand, go back to the ideas in your parking lot and decide what to do with them. From a time management and choice management stand point, this is a much for effective use of your time than switching tasks each time a new idea pops into your head.
However, this strategy doesn’t always work!
Dear Lisa,
I love the parking lot idea! Truly I do! I use it all the time when I’m working on the computer. HOWEVER, I find that I still get distracted by PEOPLE needing my help. Let’s be realistic – as much as I’d like to “put them in the parking lot” I just CAN’T! Any suggestions?
Your Easily Distracted Client
JoAnn
JoAnn is correct. It just isn’t as socially acceptable to “put” people in the parking lot!
It’s OK to “park” the ideas and thoughts flying around in our own head – but not necessarily people. Don’t get me wrong – you may be able to “park” them by simply stating, “I’m working on a project right now – can I get back to you in an hour.” But even that strategy won’t work with everyone!
JoAnn,
First, congrats on using the parking lot to reduce the distractions in your own head! Bravo on that progress! Now – about people! You are correct – sometimes you just can’t “park” them – as much as you would like. My suggestion for this instance is to use “next steps”.
In the situations where you need to respond / react to the person immediately, jot down your next step with the project you are currently working on. For example
- If you are in the middle of making customer services calls, write down the name of the next person you need to call.
- If you are responding to an email, quickly write a word or two about the next thought you want to convey.
- If you are creating a new sales script, outline the bullet points you have floating around in your head.
After capturing your next steps – you are mentally free to give the person your full attention and then return seamlessly to your original task.
By creating “next steps” you won’t need to wonder “where was I” when you return to the task at hand. You will be able to immediately pick up where you left off.
Best of luck implementing “next steps”. It’s not as great as “parking ” people, but sometimes you just need to bow to social convention!Lisa
What are your most common distractions? How do you deal with them? Have you tried the parking lot or next steps? Tell me about your experience.
If you are looking for additional distraction busting techniques – I invite you to attend this month’s teleseminar
Eliminate Distractions in 3 Easy Steps – Even When the Weather is Nice
This call will be recorded, so even if you can’t attend live be sure to register!
[su_button url=”https://impactivestrategies.com/products-training-2/teleseminar-registration/” style=”bubbles” size=”4″ center=”yes”]Sign Me Up![/su_button]Main photo courtesy of iosphere/ freedigitalphotos.net
Fantastic post Lisa! Made me laugh, thank you for sharing :) Have a great day!
Joan –
Glad you enjoyed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lisa
This is good suggestions and so helpful. Thanks! Kim http://www.things2doinutah.com
Kim –
Thanks for stopping by! I’m so glad you liked these strategies!
Lisa
Boy do I need to learn the parking lot strategy! I don’t have people that distract me I have my own mind. I never realized how scattered brained I was until I started to be a regular blogger. I keep a note pad next to me to jot down new ideas but its still hard to stay on task. Love reading your post.
Kristina
The first step is to realize when you are most easily distracted. Keeping a note pad near you when you are blogging is a GREAT start! Thanks for your comment!
Lisa
Great post, Lisa. I know it doesn’t work for everyone, but I try to be consistent with the angle of my door (open versus closed) in my office. If it’s open, people are welcome to distract me, but if it’s almost all the way closed I’m probably working on something and an email or gchat message would be better. It seems to work pretty well for people.
Laura
I love the angle of the door strategy. I had a client once who worked in an open office floor plan – and when she was on a deadline she put yellow caution tape all around her desk to warn people not to interrupt. Not a pretty solution, but effective! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
lisa
We cannot really Park people though I must admit there are some that I would love to. ;)
Fortunately my family and friends are courteous enough to interrupt my work only if it is an emergency and they get my full attention at that time. The same courtesy is extended to them.
Coco the pet child has figured out that if she wants an out of turn walk while I’m working, she needs to drink water and let it drip on my feet to get her message across.
At those times writing down the next step technique really helps to get back on track. Thanks for highlighting the issue, Lisa.
Vatsala
I recently had a workshop participant tell me that not only would she like to “park” people, but she wouldn’t be opposed to running them over. Not quite the strategy I was advocating! My “pet child” jumps right on my lap when she wants attention. I find it pretty impossible to “park her” – so the next steps strategy was certainly born out of need! Thanks for your comment!
Lisa
Thanks for the “next step” idea. That’s something I should definitely get used to doing. When someone or something distracts me, I tend to remember what I was meaning to do hours or days later, and often in the middle of the night, rather than when I could actually get back to it! I’ll try it!
Rachel
Thrilled this idea has some value for you!!!!! Thanks for the comment!
Lisa
I admit that it can be difficult to manage interruptions and distractions in my business. I do ‘put people in the parking lot’ though LOL. I have a set period of time Monday through Friday for both telephone calls and emails. I learned a long time ago that distractions keep me from doing what I need to do and I just cannot allow myself to get sucked in to other people’s agendas. Works for me :)
Rachel
I agree – creating structure around when YOU want to answer emails and return phone calls is key! Being able to be proactive and work on your priorities instead of reactive and working on theirs is the way to move your life in the direction you want! Thanks for the comment!
Lisa