To get our work done each week, many people feel the need to come in early, stay late and on occasion work weekends. When we do so, our productivity is at its highest, but why? Could it be that there aren’t any distractions? That it’s peaceful? That you can focus on what needs to be done?

Well, you aren’t alone. In 2005, Basex, a New York research firm, released a study that found that office distractions ate up 2.1 hours a day for the average worker. Another study by Professor Gloria Mark and her then graduate student Victor Gonzalez of the University of California at Irvine set out to observe office workers in action. According to Marks it was “far worse than I could ever have imagined”. Here’s what they found:

• Each employee spent only 11 minutes on a project before being interrupted.
• Each 11 minute project was itself fragmented into even shorter three minute tasks.
• Each time a worker was interrupted, it took on average 25 minutes to return to the original task.

So, what can you do to create that "weekend productivity" during the week? Consider the following for taming your distractions and improving your ability to focus:

Develop a mental attitude that values quality instead of quantity.

• Schedule time on your calendar to do your work—treat this time as if it was an important meeting, make it a priority.
• Remember, you teach what you allow. Therefore, stop teaching people to interrupt you.
• Turn off your e-mail—check it at specific times or set your Out-Of-Office feature and say that you are in the office; however, not regularly on e-mail and to call if there is an immediate need.
• Uni-task which means to tackle one thing at time.
  Practice saying “no” when you want to, can, and should.

Click here for Clive Thompson’s New York Times article about Gloria Mark’s research.

Productivity Pointer Tired of being distracted by e-mails all day long? Why not set the delivery of your e-mails for every 2 to 3 hours instead of every time some one sends you one. Here’s how to do it: On your tool bar, go to Tools > Options > Mail Setup Tab > Send/Receive > Section called: Settings for Group > Check: Include this group on send/receive > and > Schedule an automatic send/receive every ___ minutes (use the arrow up/down buttons to select how frequently you would like to have your e-mail delivered) > Close > OK. P.S. You can always override this option by clicking on Send/Receive!

Learning Opportunities

If you think that this is a great e-mail tip, you should see the rest! Join us for our Tips, Tools and Techniques for Managing E-mail Webinar. Not only will you learn great tips for using this incredible productivity tool, you will see them in action – live, from your own pc! Additionally, attendees will receive a 19-page E-mail Tip Sheet that will include all of the step-by-step information covered in the Webinar along with other great tips and information! To join us, click here.