The Stress Free Guide - Part 5

Internal Interruptions
It is estimated that our own brains account for half of all concentration interruptions in the course of one day. This is our automatic system, which constantly feeds us reminders and brings unresolved issues to our consciousness.

It is possible to give out brains some relief, though; one method of providing relief is a simple exercise which we call emptying your head. To empty your head you write out a list of all the issues or problems that need to be resolved so that your brain does not interrupt you with reminders. Then put the list of tasks or problems on you daily, weekly, or monthly ‘to-do’ list. In this way, you brain knows that these tasks will get done and can let go of the information and stop sending us reminders.

When it comes to sensitive issues, it can be good to bounce them off someone else to get different insights and perspectives and thus be able to carry on. Conflicts involving strong emotions are often best resolved immediately, as our brains find it difficult to stave off these types of mental reminders.

External Interruptions
the office environmentThe office environment is a relatively unproductive way of working if you need to concentrate heavily on a particular task. Having your personal space constantly invaded by others, such as interruptions from loud conversations, questions, and cell phones, can be both disturbing and distressing. One solution is to try out the Activity Based Workspace office model, which is based on the individual themselves choosing a workspace that best suits the type of work they will be doing.

4 tips for handling interruptions in office

• Disconnect: When you will be undertaking a task that requires a high level of concentration, place yourself somewhere where you can’t be interrupted by your colleagues. It could be a conference room, library, or your home.

• Hearing protection: If you do not have a laptop and are thus unable to remove yourself from distractions, get some form of hearing protection.

• Rules: Develop common rules for the office in order to create a calm and relaxed working environment.

• Respect: Teach your colleagues to respect your working environment. Does every question really need to be answered immediately? Answer questions with questions and then let the person think for themselves. In the longer term, this will benefit both parties.

IT Stress

A common source of IT stress is the interruptions caused by technology support, which is designed to make us constantly accessible or to remind us. We can influence a lot of these interruptions ourselves.

7 tips for reducing IT stress

1. Silent cell phones: set your cell phone to silent. You can also set special ring tones or vibrations for those who need to be accessible.

2. Notifications: Change your cell phone and computer settings so that loud email and social media notifications don’t disturb you. Another solution is to put your cell phone face down so you don’t see any activity. The best thing is to put away your phone entirely.

3. Answering service: Turn off your phone’s answering service and ask people who ring to send an SMS or email instead. In text conversations you can choose to answer when it suits you. People often understand more quickly when reading than they do when listening, and the information is often more concrete.

4. Accessibility: The more publicly accessible your phone number is, the likelier your phone will ring, regardless of whether you are free or not.

5. Contacts: Make sure that your phone’s contact list is up-to-date, as the impulse to answer increases when you are unable to assess the importance of numbers you don’t recognize.

6. Social media: Do not have social media open when you work, as it is easy to get sucked in as you switch between windows.

7. Emails: Don’t have your email open, check your email at specific times.