Forget Me Not – Julie’s memoirs

Interruptions when working from home are very different from those the workplace.  Interruptions are distracting, costly and annoying.  On average, one person interrupting you can take 10 minutes away from your productivity.  It may seem that the interruption is only for a few minutes, but by the time you have stopped what you are doing.  Interrupted your thought process to understand what it is the person is asking of you.  Answer the question correctly.  Then go back and pick up your thought process takes about 10 minutes. 

All brilliant strategies, but what if you are working from Home?  How do you deal with those interruptions?  With Covid-19, many of us have changed our working style and moved our office to the dining room table or the spare room.  We have had to manage family commitments and our bosses’ constant demands.

The strategies we had for interruptions in the office are no longer valid at Home.  It is difficult to tell your loved ones you are unavailable for a chat from 9 am to 5 pm.  They can physically see you.  Not only that, but they can also reach out their hands and touch you.  To them, you are there, in person.  As a result, able to be spoken to and answer the question.  Interrupted, able to answer just one question, for example, what are we having for dinner.  To your family and friends, being in lockdown means you are constantly accessible.

How have I coped with these interruptions?  Not well to start with, a plan was needed to deal with interruptions.  My home office, entitled ‘The Studio’, is the converted garage.  Suddenly I am available with my family and friends who want to speak to me.  When in the office, they respected my time and rarely called or popped in.  When working from home, suddenly, the rules seem to have been thrown out of the window.  So new rules had to be set in place.