- Wear Headphones – If your job is anything like mine, these are a Godsend. People walk up to me and notice that I’m wearing headphones and are immediately much less likely to ask me about something. Obviously, if it’s important, they’ll ask anyway. Actually listening to music is optional, but it can make this one more enjoyable.
- Position Your Body ‘Intently’ – Body language has everything to do with people’s perception of your level of busyness. If I’m sitting back lazily in my chair, one hand on my mouse and the other fiddling with my iPod, I’m practically inviting the chick from A/R to bug me about something. When I’m really concentrating, I have a tendency to lean forward in my chair. You wouldn’t believe how much this helps. If your body says “I’m busy”, would-be productivity killers will pick up on it and might just leave you be.
- Flat-out Ignore Them (at first) – This goes hand-in-hand with number 1. If somebody walks up to my desk and says “Oy, Brett!” (and I actually hear them), I’ll completely ignore them the first time. This is only marginally effective and probably isn’t something you’d want to use on the CEO or anything. If they persist, obviously you’re going to have to talk to them. However, this will weed out a good number of bored coworkers looking to chat about some sporting event or something.
- Hang a Sign – If the above choices prove ineffective, open up your favorite word processor, increase the font size to 48 or something, and type “IF IT’S NOT AN EMERGENCY, EMAIL ME.”. Now print that bad boy and tape it to the back of your chair, or pin it to the wall of your cube. Far from subtle, but this will definitely be effective (especially when combined with the others).
- Messy Desk – If you have all sorts of crap strewn around your desk, it’s a pretty clear indication that you’re in the middle of something. I know this flies in the face of being a good GTDer, but it will help.
- Say “I’m Busy” – When it comes down to it, the other items in this list are just non-verbal ways of saying “This had better be important”. If the person carrying the TPS report is especially dense and still feels the need to take you away from your work, you can always fire back with “Is it an emergency? I’m in the middle of something”. More often than not, they’ll respond with something like “Oh, uh, ok, sure…”. Mission freakin’ accomplished.
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