Is your work interrupted?

Even with our best intentions we may find that we are unable to complete a task in one go. If this is the case then the way that we leave the task can determine how much time is wasted getting up to speed when we are ready to complete the task.

If you get many interruptions in your day to day working then coming up with a way to close down / pause activities can save you a lot of time, especially if you need to delegate the task later.

The simplest analogy is that of a book mark. If you spent your time trying to find where you are up to in your book each time you started you would waste time that could be spent reading. If you had a specific intention for reading the book then you could make a note of that on the bookmark, for example, so that you could get straight back into why you reading the book. The same is true in the workplace.

Two ideas come to mind. First, make some protected time in your day and only start tasks that you know you will be able to finish. Second, agree with your team on how a job will be left should it be interrupted. This should be designed so that the task can be picked up right away without any confusion or time wasted with guesswork.

Being stopped in the middle of something is not uncommon, but the ability to create a way of pausing a task so that time isn't wasted when getting back into it is uncommon. Be uncommon!

Smartspeed Consulting Limited
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