Men can’t multi-task – this is one of many things my wife shares with me, I guess it’s not the ‘doing’ that’s the issue it’s holding several ‘thoughts’ at once that preempts the doing.
Generally when we are working on a piece of work, we need to spend a small amount of time‚ getting into what we are intending to work on (planning) – well before we start the ‘doing’.
Surprisingly this involves a quality a lot of us lack, patience – owning a cat as a pet perhaps helps with this. It takes time to do anything with a cat, unlike a dog … but that’s another story.
Through experience we find patience is a quality, whereas getting into the zone is a discipline which develops with time and practice.
If you have ever disturb a colleague during a period of productivity, they won’t thank you for it, well not until they either have forgotten what they were working on or have to do get back into their zone before becoming productive.
There is no tight and fast rule in dealing with this – everybody is different and deals with interruption is a different way, ask yourself the following question:
1. How well do the people near you deal with interruptions?
2. Can they multi-task – the ‘thinking’ and ‘doing’ parts?
3. Are you aware what they are working on?
4. Are they undertaking an activity that needs concentration or are they undertaking a routine activity?
5. Does your interruption carry a higher priority in comparison to what they are working on?
With the right questions you can establish if an interruption will be received in a positive way …
Photo credit: Tjflex2 / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND