The Discipline of Eliminating Interruptions

A primary task of leadership is to direct attention. To do so, leaders must learn to eliminate interruptions in their environment.

Research has shown that our mobile phones, pdas, computer and smart electronic gadgets are the major source of our interruptions aside from the workplace interruptions which only amounts for 24.52%. 

Hence, what you enjoy doing most of the time is interrupting what you should be doing, for the world around you is structured to interrupt you. If you already struggle with focus, you are fighting a losing battle from the moment you wake. If you are normally a focused person but don’t control your environment, your day will become a series of interruptions. To

combat this, you need to turn off everything that could attract your attention.

Meanwhile, if you consider how often your phone interrupts your thoughts, works and sleeping time, you would take a second look at it. Hence, I reduce the interruptions by ensuring my phone never makes an audible noise, I keep it face down most of the time so I can’t see the screen light up, and when I install new applications, I disable notifications. And that is exactly the way I want it. I lived a great life before text messages, and life will go on if I miss one now.

Furthermore, it takes an average of about 25 minutes (23 minutes and 15 seconds, to be exact) to return to the original task after an interruption, according to Gloria Mark, who studies digital distraction at the University of California, Irvine. Multiple studies confirm this. 

Just imagine you have 16 interruptions for every 8 hours, if you multiply that with the above statistics you already loss 4 hours of productive work-time recovering from interruptions alone.

Finally, when you learn to be comfortable with silence and eliminate interruptions. The quality of your work will drastically increase and you will be more productive, and the depth of your thinking will increase because you will have long periods to dedicate to your thoughts.

Here is a few tips to eliminate interruptions:

Minimize multitasking. Reuters.

Meditate. AMC.

Exercise regularly. Simon Bruty/Getty Images.

Establish a to-do list. robstephaustralia.

Try a small amount of caffeine. REUTERS/Adeel Halim.

Take breaks. Flickr/rikkis_refug.

Keep work at work.

Train your brain to focus.

Omasanjuwa Ogharandukun

2020 Leadership Series