Front page, Saturday, June 14, NY Times: “Lost in E-mail, Tech Firms Face Self-made Beast”. The article discusses how the use of email has “fractured” attention spans and hurt productivity. Intel and other companies are heeding the research and conducting workplace experiements to assess the problem and generate solutions.  A Besex study in the article concluded that 28% of a typical information worker’s day is consumed by interruptions that aren’t urgent or important and by the time it takes to get back on track. Those numbers support the return on investment companies can expect if they can learn to manage such interruptions as unnecessary email messages.

In my time management coaching with lawyers, I use the statistic that it takes 11 minutes to handle and recover from an interruption.  11 minutes before you return your focus to the work you’d been doing.  Lawyers usually say they have 10-15 unnecessary interruptions a day. At 10 interruptions, you’ve lost about 9 hours a week. The NYT front page article supports that number. Clearly, lawyers can also expect a decent return on any investment made to control interruptions.

One tactic the tech firms are pursuing involves creating software; for example, a utility that prevents you from checking email during a certain period of protected time. However, they’ve also had good results from the same technique that I teach- time blocking. Time blocking is simply blocking time on your calendar and protecting it from interruptions. In the article, companies created “quiet time” by hanging laminated cards to announce that interruptions should be limited. The results were “huge”, according to an Intel engineer.

Creating time blocks for focused content work and other specific blocks for checking email and voice mail is the first thing I address with clients. It works, even if you only stick to it 75% of the time- which is about where I am. If you try it, it will add hours to your week. GUARANTEED!

The NYT article is perfect timing for me and for you. For me- it’s a great way to help you see the value of learning this technique, and next week I’m offering a 4 week/$30 class that will teach it. For you- even if you don’t take the class, perhaps the article will strengthen your resolve around managing yourself so you’re more effective. Time blocking is the first and best way to start seriously addressing work/life balance.

Last Monday, I wrote about becoming a toleration-free zone. This week, time blocking is the topic.  June is about planning to get the results you want to see at the end of the year. Create time, create focus and get into action.

Keep working on your tolerations list and start blocking time to get more work done without losing any personal time at all. (note- feel free to use the new time for fun, too!) AND, this is the shameless promotion part- check out my time management class!