Introduction
When you're trying to stay focused, you have to deal with three types of interruptions.
Machine interruptions, which you can reduce by removing notifications.
The ones you inflict on yourself, by learning to resist temptations.
And then there is the third plague: interruptions generated by other people.
The tap on the shoulder, the "quick question," the coworker who "just wants to check," the chatterbox who grabs you at the wrong time.
Headphones as a social signal
Wearing headphones isn't only about blocking noise.
It's mainly a signal.
Your headphones say, "I'm working, don't interrupt me."
When someone interrupts you anyway, you can set a simple rule: when the headphones are on, you're protecting a focus sequence, and you'll get back to them later.
In most cases, they'll have found the answer by themselves in the meantime.
Music: yes, but not any kind
Music can help, but only if it demands as little attention as possible.
The goal is to support your work, not replace it.
Simple music, mostly instrumental, no lyrics, ideally familiar. New tracks pull your attention, so they can pull you out of work.
You can also use soundscapes (cafe, train, rain, river) if it helps you get into a bubble.
Changing location can be a massive productivity lever
The office isn't always the best place to work.
Some founders deliberately isolate themselves several half-days per week, outside the office, to avoid interruptions and create long focus tunnels.
Half a day with no interruption can produce the equivalent of several fragmented days.
And if you want to go further, you can do more radical sessions: two or three days in isolation to move forward on an important topic, a personal project, strategy work, or complex output.
Flow, the moment time disappears
When you truly protect your attention, you can reach a very specific state.
A state where you're fully absorbed by the task, you become more performant, and time seems to pass faster.
This state is central to the focus chapter, and it's closely linked to chaining continuous sequences without breaks, exactly what Carlson's law describes.
Negotiate isolation, backed by results
You might think, "my company will never let me do that."
A simple strategy is to ask for a short trial, a few days, then send a very concrete recap of what you accomplished.
The more visible your results are, the more your organization will tolerate your methods.
Tolerance for remote work, or working "apart," is often proportional to the quality of what you deliver.
Time vampires: how to stop them from eating your day
Even with headphones, some coworkers don't get the rule.
Two categories come up often.
1) The constant validation seekers
Propose a rule: they come back at a specific time with a list of questions.
Just having to batch questions pushes the person to think and drastically reduces interruptions.
2) The chatterboxes
The challenge is cutting the flow without being aggressive.
A simple technique: raise your hand like a "stop" sign, summarize in one sentence what they're saying, then end with a clear exit line: "I need to finish X by Y time, I'll get back to you after."
Choose the balance: serendipity vs concentration
Creating a bubble doesn't mean running away from all interaction.
Coffee machine chats, conversations you overhear, unexpected exchanges can sometimes generate valuable ideas and information.
The key point is that open-to-interruption moments should be chosen, not suffered.
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