Comments on: How interruptions drain productivity

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:25:21 +0000

My reading is that ’scattered’ describes a mental state rather than a physical state.

By: J.D. Meier

J.D. Meier — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:28:48 +0000

I’m a fan of batch and focus.

By: Twitted by sarat

Twitted by sarat — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:59:05 +0000

[...] This post was Twitted by sarat – Real-url.org [...]

By: Caroline Stern

Caroline Stern — Sun, 31 May 2009 12:29:33 +0000

Tom DeMarco’s Peopleware also had good things to say about the cost of int interruptions and distractions.

I set up my team so they were sitting in adjacent cubicles so they could collaborate.. but I actually moved to the other side of the floor because my team kept wanting to discuss small details with me which made it impossible for me to focus.

I told then to keep me in the loop by all means but I trusted them with thinking through day to day tasks.

By: Rethink55

Rethink55 — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:17:02 +0000

[...] Ambler’s discussion on “How Interruptions drain productivity” got me thinking about an article that appeared in the February 2002 edition of the Harvard [...]

By: Olga Kouzina

Olga Kouzina — Mon, 25 May 2009 19:44:48 +0000

@Thommy – absolutely. keeping precious leader’s time intact is not the ultimate goal. the ultimate goal is the productivity of the whole team. so a certain balance between distraction and concentration should be looked for and observed.

By: Thommy

Thommy — Sun, 24 May 2009 01:07:45 +0000

Under deadline pressure, workers produce creative work on days when they are focused, not when they are scattered and interrupted, a study published in the Harvard Business Review found.

I find this interesting that they include scattered in the above sentence. Does this mean that they should be colocated but not interrupt each other. I normally see an open workspace as a positive thing especially for me as a leader. I am available for questions or what ever need the knowledge workers have from me. Although I sometimes have to stay home to do some of my tasks that require longer periods of concentration (like writing those boring reports for management).

By: Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog » Management Improvement Carnival #64

Thu, 21 May 2009 22:15:22 +0000

[...] How Interruptions Drain Productivity by George Ambler-”Time is a leaders most valuable resource. The way a leader uses their time demonstrates to the people around them what’s really important.” [...]

By: Kay Plantes

Kay Plantes — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:09:56 +0000

Terrific. Once I started keeping a detailed time log with “time on e-mail” I saw how keeping e-mail on distracted me from being more productive. It’s not just the interruption and getting my mind back on task. The issue is that the e-mails drag me into spending more than I want on e-mail. Setting limits on e-mail communication has made me more productive. Thanks for the post, Kay

By: Daily News About Fighting : A few links about Fighting - Sunday, 17 May 2009 13:25

Sun, 17 May 2009 21:02:32 +0000

[...] How interruptions drain productivity [...]