Studies in the article find that we are interrupted as often as every 11 minutes, with an additional amount of time spent on returning to the task, picking up where you left off and refocusing. Even though we all work towards a "groove" or a "zone" to produce quality work that feels rewarding, it is becoming harder and harder to do so in this self-inflicted world of NOW and immediate gratification. So what’s the solution? Here are the articles specific actions you can take now to minimize interruptions later: 1. Group similar tasks into blocks of activities in order to reduce the time lost to switchover. Do your budgets, your phone calls, your drawing, your contract reviews, etc., at one time rather than switching between them. 2. Establish meeting “corridors” – essentially office hours when you’re available to meet with colleagues. During emergencies people can disturb you, but this will reduce the non-urgent interruptions. A company I know has a totally open floor plan, with low cube walls and no privacy. They've found a simple solution: each person has two paper signs. A green sign says "open," which means they're available to talk. A red sign has a time written on it – in other words, "do not disturb until ___ o'clock." Also consider setting up standard check-in periods during the day for the people with whom you interact the most: when they know they’ll get to see you for 10 minutes each morning and afternoon, they’ll be more willing to wait. 3. Set “service level agreements” that support your work. With e-mail in particular, there’s an assumption that because a message can be sent and received immediately, it must be answered immediately. And, in fact, we’ve trained people to expect instantaneous response. But more often than not, people don’t really need an immediate response. They need a predictable response – within a few hours or within the day. To address emergencies effectively, set up a “white list” for certain people, and an e-mail rule that notifies you when those people send you a message. Better yet, have people use the phone for urgent issues. After all, if the issue is that critical and time-sensitive, asynchronous communication tools are not the best option. 4. Turn off the automatic e-mail alerts in Outlook and Lotus Notes to reduce distractions. Even if you don’t respond to an e-mail immediately, the very act of reading (or hearing) the alert fractures your concentration. Learn to deal with e-mail in blocks – once or twice a day is ideal, four times a day if you must. 5. Set Blackberry boundaries. Just because you can check your e-mail any time and anywhere doesn’t mean that you should. As with your desktop e-mail, aim for predictable, not immediate, response. Set specific times at which you check your Blackberry and communicate this schedule to your staff. Making these changes can be disruptive, so it’s important to inform clients and coworkers in advance. And while these new ways of working may seem odd and cause friction at first, in the long run, they’ll make you – and your team – more productive.