So… do you ever wonder why you can’t get anything done?

Well, Julie Morgenstern, the #1 USA professional organizer, explains what new research revealed:

According to a study published by Cubesmart Inc., we experience on average, one interruption every 8 minutes or approximately 6-7 per hour.

That equals about 50-60 interruptions in an 8 hour day.

Most interruptions take approximately 5-15 minutes. If you receive 50 interruptions daily and each takes 10 minutes, that totals 500 minutes, which is 8 hours per day.

Ouch! No wonder you feel the need to work 12 hours per day… 8 handling interruptions, and 4 getting your work done after hours.

Sobering, isn’t it? Or, consider this study:

“In a recent study, a group of Microsoft workers took, on average, 15 minutes to return to serious mental tasks, like writing reports or computer code, after responding to incoming e-mail or instant messages. They strayed off to reply to other messages or browse news, sports or entertainment Web sites.”

The bottom line is this -

DISTRACTION equals DESTRUCTION …of productivity and your future career and success in life.

Interruptions and distractions are the #1 reason why we can’t get anything done in the office.

Yes, you can use all sorts of fancy productivity techniques, but as long as people and things keep distracting and interrupting you, you won’t accomplish anything. It will be impossible.

You are either distraction-driven, or productive. Your mind is either scattered all over the place, or focused.

It’s your career and future at stake here. It’s a very serious problem – and most people don’t have a clue about it.

Fortunately, here are 5 action steps you can do right now to turn things around -

You absolutely need to get rid of as many interruptions and distractions as possible, immediately. And this is what you need to do -

1. Disable all popups and notifications – on your computer, phone, tablet. Everywhere. Be brutal.
2. Start explaining to your co-workers that when they need something, they should email you. Be polite but firm and persistent. Also tell them that calling you or walking to your desk should be used only in important urgent matters.
3. Check your email only twice a day. Keep your email closed the rest of the day. This is key.
4. Keep your phone on vibrate if possible. And remember: You don’t have to pick up the phone just because it rings.
5. Don’t “train” others to expect your response immediately in trivial matters. If it takes you 24+ hours to reply to an email, they will learn to obtain the information themselves instead of contacting you all the time, sometimes unnecessarily.

Once you do these 5 things, you will make it possible for yourself to actually get something done!

Then, the next step is to schedule some un-interrupted blocks of time without distractions. Once you do that, you will be more productive than ever – and start going home sooner.

The perfect workflow

Your workday can look like this:

1. Look at your to-do list to see what’s next
2. Do it
3. Mark it as complete in your to-do list
4. Go to 1 and repeat

If your current workflow doesn’t look anything like that, well, blame the distractions and interruptions.

PS: Psssst. Let me tell you a secret — ready? — YOU are the one who is allowing the distractions and interruptions into your life. You are responsible. I suggest you take control of your work environment and life back into your hands – today.

You can start by removing the “email drug” needle from your arm, disabling all notifications, and training your co-workers to stop interrupting you all the time.

Related Posts:

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New research explains why you can’t get anything done is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

It turns out that plants and trees have a very powerful impact on humans.

The author writes: “Recovery rates of patients in hospitals are significantly increased when they can see trees out of their ward windows, and prisoners whose cell windows overlook farmland and forests report fewer medical problems than others.”

So, the eco-terrorists were right all along! :-)

The same positive effect applies to crime rates (anti-social behavior): Researches found that shrubs and trees in urban areas can reduce criminality by 50%.

But most interestingly, plants make people more creative. Numerous studies have confirmed, again and again, that plants in office environment increase creativity.

The book states: “Eight-month study by Robert Ulrich from Texas A&M University showed that adding flowers and plants to an office resulted in 15 per cent increase in ideas from male emlployees, and more flexible solutions to problems from their female counterparts.” Similar effect applies to children.

Why does it work? The book says: “According to some theorists, the explanation dates back thousands of years. Evolutionary psychologists attempt to explain behavior on the basis of how it might have helped people thrive and survive through generations. In their opinion, being confronted with healthy trees and plants might initiate an ancient feeling of calm because it suggests there will be an abundance of nearby food, which eases the worry about where the next meal is coming from. Such pleasant feelings then make people more helpful, happy, and creative.”

Flowers! Weeds! Trees! It’s all good!

Amazingly, this applies even to colors. Green color can boost productivity and innovation, while red color decreases it. Use red text very carefully. Also be wary of red decorations.

So what is exactly the 15% creativity “weed hack”? (No, not that kind of weed.) Put a green plant on your desk, and make sure you can see it. If you want to make the effect even more powerful, decorate your office with green colors, and avoid red colors. And it’s best if you can see some trees through your window. And beware the similar 150% creativity “weed hack” (Yes, that kind of weed.)

I’m curious — does fruit have similar effects? And how about greenery + fruit? Too bad I’m not a scientist.

For starters, I’ve set my wallpaper to a picture of a lovely garden with baskets of ripe apples. It might even subtly influence me to buy and eat more fruit, which is always a good thing.

Oh yes, and I’ve also removed a red chocolate box from my desk, that has been sitting there for a long time. I was saving the last piece of the chocolate… but now I just had the perfect reason to eat it, backed by peer-reviewed research.

The book has persuaded me, as the evidence presented is overwhelming. We are definitely going to get some plants for our office this week, at least one for each desk. A refreshed workspace can also come from updated walls, and Edmonton brick painting specialists can help transform the look with ease. I’m really looking forward to it.

We used to think we are smart for not having any plants in our office, so we can save the hassle of watering them, but it’s just not worth it. Taking care of the plants is a little price for the long-term benefits.

By the way, we’ve just launched new web comics for developers, geeks, and startup slaves. Strip 15 is about this post: Component Owl’s Comics

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Why plants on workdesks boost creativity by 15% is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

1. Log off from Facebook and other websites where you waste time. Seriously, checking it once (or twice) a day is enough. You do not have to be constantly logged in. When you log off and then go to www.facebook.com during your workday when you are procrastinating, you will have to log in again – this will remind you that you in fact do not want to spend your time on Facebook now.

2. Remove all shortcuts and links to useless websites, games and programs that waste your time. That’s easy to do – but you still need to relax. That’s why you also need to discover and start using new ways to relax – ways that actually help. Taking a walk is the time-proven favorite of numerous geniuses and great minds. Or consider taking a short nap. Resting by staring in the screen some more won’t help at all. (See older blog post Prevent Repetitive Strain Injury for some extra tips about what to do on your work-break.)

3. If you use a tabbed browser, close all old tabs. If you keep websites that you want to return to later in the browser tabs, then bookmark them instead, but close the tabs. This will make it much easier to focus. Also, clear your browsing history, so it’s harder to go to websites where you waste time – you will have to type the website addresses manually again.

4. De-clutter your work desk. Ideally, only things related to your current task should be located on your work desk. Put everything else away – if there’s no place to put the stuff, get some drawers. Just put the stuff away.

5. De-clutter your Windows desktop as well. Remove old programs and files that you don’t need anymore.

6. Are there any popups or notifications jumping in your face during your workday, demanding your attention? Disable them. Close all programs that display them. You can’t work like this – it’s impossible to focus when you are bombarded by infinite stream of distractions and demands. (For example, Twitter supports RSS – why not use that instead of real-time notifications?)

7. Close all programs that are not relevant to your current task. This is crucial. If these programs start automatically with Windows, disable it. (The easiest way to do it is: Press Win+R, type in ‘msconfig’ (without the quotes), hit Enter, and then go to the Startup tab and disable all programs that you do not need automatically started with your system).

8. Can you ergonomically improve your work place? New chair, better keyboard or desk – things like this matter. Is there any aspect of your working environment that could be more comfortable? Improve or fix it.

9. Turn your LCD display sideways. This might sound like a joke, but it’s not: Displays that support the “pivot” technology and allow you to turn them sideways are great, because a work-area that is taller than wider is extremely useful for many kinds of work, including writing and reading – probably the two most common tasks that you do at your computer. Even the cheapest displays nowadays support this technology. Perhaps your LCD display already has it, you just don’t know about it! If not, consider getting a new and better display.

10. Most importantly – get and stay organized. The easier it is for you to be organized, the more likely it is that you will be and stay organized. Swift To-Do List makes this the simplest thing in the world. In fact, it makes being organized literally fun – and I’m not exaggerating here. That’s the exact word that our users report about their experience with Swift To-Do List. Download it today.

Sponsored message: If you would like to learn how to keep your office more productive and efficient, consider getting an on-line masters degree in organizational leadership.

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Create more productive environment at your desk (10 tips) is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog