Time Out On Interruptions: How to get Time Lock Cooperation

What is Time Locking? It’s nothing less than the perfect antidote to today’s fast-paced, chaotic culture of interruptions. It is how you recover stolen time you never knew you had – stolen by Time Bandits who interrupt you. Time Bandits who leave you desperate for more time to finish your work, do it well, and find some satisfaction in it.

Time Locking is your way of staving off the chaos for a specified period of time while you focus on an important task that requires close concentration. You can do that because someone else has agreed to cover for you by absorbing all those interruptions.

“What,” you say? That’s impossible. Why would somebody else, already plagued by the same culture of interruptions, agree to do that for you?”

Because every Time Bandit has their own Time Bandits, needs their own Time Locks, and will want you to reciprocate. All it takes is a grasp of communication arts and skills so that you can find the right words and way to talk to your Time Bandit without giving offense.

Here’s how you get Time Lock cooperation from your Time Bandit(s).

1. Explain how you run your business and your frustration with deadlines, and ask them if they have similar concerns. Go as far as asking how they approach their Time Bandits. They may say, “I haven’t figured that out,” or they may tell you what you’re about to tell them, which is to enter into a Mutual Time Lock Agreement which would provide both of you hours of uninterrupted time.Sure, at first it might take a little back-and-forth, or give-and-take. It did for us at my company, but it was well worth it. Now, we understand what kind of work is eligible for Time Locking and what is not. We agree on which periods of time are convenient for Time Locks and which are not. We put Time Locking signs on our doors when we need to, confident that our colleagues will understand and count on us to reciprocate for them.We don’t break anyone’s Time Locks unless it’s an absolute emergency, partly because we respect others’ need for Time Locking, but also because we understand that our best interests will be much better served when they can focus on our needs deliberately, not when we happen to interrupt them. It makes our working lives so much more harmonious and productive!Not to exaggerate: we don’t pretend that we’ve eliminated all interruptions and time pressures. But we do carve out and protect time for what matters. You can be sure our finance department doesn’t get pestered when they Time Lock to run payroll. My CFO Ruben can call me any time he wants, but he doesn’t when I’m in make-up in the studio with camera crews waiting. And no matter how excited I am about a new idea, I will respect the Time Lock of a consultant who is finalizing a new contract proposal.

2. A stylish presentation includes the right body language. Make and never lose eye contact, keep your arms down and your hands open. Smile, not only physically but mentally as well. When you speak, speak from the heart. That way, your Time Bandit will not be defensive, and will return in kind what you say and what they see.Learn to do this the right way at the right time, so that you don’t suddenly find yourself bursting out in frustration and saying things in a regrettable way.

3. When I began my career as a teacher in the workplace, the students complained bitterly that just the time they were going to spend with me would increase their frustration, because they already had “too much to do and not enough time to do it in.” Too many clients, too many hand-holding obligations, too many in-bound and out-bound calls. In other words, “Mr. Brown, we realize that training is important, but we just don’t have enough time.” I soon realized that the Cohen Brown rule was once again proving correct: Nobody will ever make the time to listen to or participate in any behavioral-based training if it is not their intention to use what you’re teaching or asking them to do. So make sure your Time Bandits know that what you’re proposing will be as good for them as it is for you!

4. If all interruptions were eliminated, based on focus groups I’ve recently conducted, the survivors of those interruptions would recapture 3-5 hours a day every day, which equals 40-60% of the standard work day. If recaptured, it could be devoted to significant gains in productivity. In 2005, a Basex research study reported that the cost of interruptions in America was $588 billion and increasing at the rate of 7%. Do the math: in 2015, the cost will be approximately $1 trillion. But what does that mean for you and your Time Bandit. Try to attach a dollar figure to 3–5 wasted hours a day in your world – either in lost pay, lost sales… No matter what metric you chose, the figure you arrive at should be all the incentive you need to learn how to Time Lock and “recover stolen time you never knew you had.”