Interruption Management

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Handle Information with Tickler Files - Interruption Management

If you're overwhelmed by what crosses your desk, it's worth considering the benefits of having a file folder for each month of the year and a file folder for each day of the month. This idea, the "tickler file," system has been in practice for years.

Create a file for days 1-31 of the month, and place it at the front of one of your file drawers. Behind that, have a file for each month of the year. If it's the second day of the month, for example, but you receive something that you won't need to deal with until the 15th, then put it in the file for, say, the 13th to allow yourself some slack. If anything comes in that you don't need to handle now, put it in your tickler file. This yields some immediate benefits. It keeps your desk clear and eliminates a lot of worry about where things go.

As the days and months go by, you continually take files that were in front and put them in the back. Once you get this system in place, you'll find that many of the things you file may not need to be acted on later. The benefits of this system are immediate.

Labels: desk, files, folders, information management, organization

Monday, June 04, 2018

Internet Addiction? - Interruption Management

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine concluded that more than one of every eight U.S. residents shows at least one sign of "problematic Internet use." The findings of this survey were consistent with those of previous, less rigorous studies.

Labels: addiction, coping, family, internet addiction, mental health, technology, web

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Manage Information with Helpers - Interruption Management

When you have good help on board, your ability to manage information increases. For example one young lady who has helped me in various capacities is a conscientious worker who gets the job done. She reads instruction guides and tells me the handful of things I need to know, registers me for certain sites, handles inquiries, and keeps information organized.

Among 100's of her peers who I have known, she is among the best of the best! She is a self-starter who stays focused on the task at hand, which frees me to focus on speaking and writing. When I need to tackle a tough information-laden project, with my helper on my side, I have a lot going for me. With her broad-based education, determination, and grit, she is destined to be a leader in her field. So, look for the greater helpers of the world of the world and watch your ability to manage information and communication-related tasks grow.

Labels: helpers, information, productivity, students

Friday, May 18, 2018

Junk Mail Likely to Never Die - Interruption Management

Louise Story, writing in the New York Times 12 years ago, shed light on why in the age of the Internet and email, junk mail is proliferating:

“United States Postal Service says marketers sent more than 114 billion pieces of direct mail, increase of about 15 percent from five years ago; volume of bulk mail, which is all direct mail, exceeded first class in last year; advertisers like it that mail ads, which do not get snagged in spam filters, can be aimed at just right customers and be monitored for effectiveness; those traits are increasingly important to companies as they target American public into finer and finer categories; some advertising executives comments.”

And it's still happening!

Labels: advertising, filters, internet, junk email, junk mail, marketing, security, spam, web

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Disruption Likely: A Hacked Password - Interruption Management

Using any popular passwords is highly risky. A hacked password equals no breathing space. Instead make up something more complex, with random letters and numbers, such as ij6ko40d1. Or use an acronym and numbers known only to you, such a mwdSin12 ("my wonderful dog Skippy is now 12").

These are a hackers delight:
      1. 123456
    2. password
      3. 12345
      4. 12345678
      5. qwerty

      6. 123456789
      7. 1234
      8. baseball
      9. dragon
    10. football

    11. 1234567
    12. monkey
    13. letmein
    14. abc123
    15. 111111

Labels: disrupt, hack, password, risk

Wednesday, May 02, 2018

Text in Class, Fail Later - Interruption Management

In a USA Today article: "As social media become nearly inescapable on college campuses, a pair of recently published studies supports what many professors already have concluded: Students using Facebook or text messaging during a lecture tend to do worse when quizzed later."

Labels: concentration, distraction, Facebook, focus, multi-task, performance, social media, texting

Friday, April 27, 2018

Adopt a Habit that Works - Interruption Management

According to Michael Masterson, interviewed in Bottomline Secrets, one simple habit that leads to success, is to get up early! "Early to rise" he says is not an absolute mandate for success, but most successful people I know get to work before their colleagues."

"Getting to work early provides you with quiet time that can be profitably spent before the rest of the world starts working. Arriving early also sends a strong message to colleagues and bosses that you are on top of your game. Early birds are viewed as energetic, organized and ambitious. People who arrive late and leave late look as if they're not in control."

Labels: advice, getting up early, habit, rising early, self-help, sleep, success, work