Setting boundaries for greater productivity
Have you ever been taken out of the zone?
You have been putting off a certain task, and then finally you are in the mood. You are making good progress, but then an interruption. You interact with whomever/whatever it is and when you return to the task, however many minutes later, you no longer have the motivation. You are not alone. Research carried out in the field of task effort and the regulation of mood by Gloria Mark (University of California, Irvine), Daniela Gudith and Ulrich Klocke (Humboldt University, Berlin) suggest that it takes roughly 25 minutes to get yourself back in the right mood.
Why are boundaries so important?
Well, boundaries are the intangible representation of self-respect and respect for others. And in the workplace, you may respect colleagues more than yourself. In other words, you might be putting other people first and not prioritising your tasks and goals. Imagine, if you will, doing some task with Excel or Power BI and Sara comes to your desk asking for help. You can say option A “I will be available in half an hour”, or option B “Sure, go ahead Sara.” If you choose the former, you stay in the zone, maintain your flow, and get it done. If you choose the latter, It could be 20 minutes with Sara, 25 minutes to get back into the groove, plus 30 minutes to complete the task.
Just to underline the difference - A (50 minutes) vs. B (75 minutes).
However, as you think about situations where this occurs in your working day, you might reasonably say, “Sometimes, I have to drop what I am doing. I mean, if my boss says do this now, then I’ve got to do it.” And you know what, you are quite right. This is what I have heard many say.
Boundaries and Prioritising
Sometimes, it is necessary to stop what you are doing and shift focus. The questions are when and how do you know. It all comes down to your prioritising strategy. Many people find a quiet place first thing in the morning and in that peaceful moment take a few or several minutes to map out their day based on the most pressing tasks. Some even do the most mundane ones first, because otherwise, they will never get them done. Regardless, there is generally at least one moment in the day when extra demands are placed on you, and this means reprioritising to some extent.
So, the key is knowing how you prioritise well. Do you make a check list in your mind’s eye (an internal visual representation) with categories such as ‘mission critical’, ‘deadline today’, ‘ensures client satisfaction’, etc? The tasks with most ticks are placed at the top of the pile. Or do you see a movie of your working day and rearrange the tasks until the movie is the best it can be? In this case, you may have conversation with yourself in which you go over the pros and cons of the task order. Whatever it is, you have a strategy, and it is important to be aware of it. Once you are aware, it just becomes easier to fit the unexpected into your to-do list.
NLP coaching can facilitate this by eliciting your strategies and bringing to your consciousness your key decision making step for prioritising. In knowing it, you can say “If it’s not urgent, I will be with you in 30 minutes.” and continue in the zone. However, if it is urgent, you can reprioritise the rest of your day. That is to say, you can start respecting yourself more by setting good boundaries which ensure you maximise productivity as well as being a great team player.
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