30 Career Management Tips — Control Distractions

This month, I’m providing a career management tip-a-day (along with other posts) to help you trigger your own career management activities.

Today’s tip: Control Distractions.

Like using instant messenger popping up on your computer screen every two minutes. Or multi-tasking and losing concentration on the conversation at hand. Or answering your e-mail every five minutes. Or checking out your favorite football team.

LOOK — A SHINY THING!

Listening to your Blackberry buzz. Having a sound made when a new e-mail comes in Outlook. Sending text messages with your cell phone. Having your cell phone beep when getting a text message.

LOOK — A NEW TOY ON THE INTERNET!

Listening to the conversation over in the next cube (unless it’s a really good one…). Answering fifteen questions from your cube mates while you are working on the presentation due in a hour. Having ten talking people standing outside your cube waiting for the conference room to open up.

LOOK — A NEW RING TONE FOR MY CELL PHONE!

Searching via Google for something specific and reading two other articles. Looking through your files on your desk for something on your current project and realizing that you have to do two other things before working on this project. Trying to talk to someone in a meeting who is reading their Blackberry.

LOOK — A CHICKEN!

Learning how to control or minimize distractions is critically important to getting things done in our career. In an age of instant everything — except completion of tasks — and an open office environment where cubes for Cubicle Warriors seem to shrink in both size and height, the ability to focus on the right stuff at the right time will differentiate your personal brand from those of others. You will be able to deliver.

LOOK — A CUBICLE WARRIOR!

Scot

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