Hasta La Ideas

Mark at Productivity501 has some great tips for keeping office distractions to a minimum in his post this week “People Who Come to Distract You.” I have found that his second point works extremely well:

2. Stand and come out from behind your desk — If you conduct your conversation standing, it will likely be much shorter. This is a good thing to do before you know if they have something valuable or if they are just coming in to shoot the breeze. If you want them to stay, pull out a chair and return to your seat.

I’m not super fond of his fourth tip (probably best not to destroy your company’s furniture), so I’d replace it with the following:

4. Close the door to your office or face a chair backward at the entrance to your cube. Then, hang up a sign on either the door or the back of the chair that states: “Please only disturb in case of emergency.” People will self-censor, even if you’re in a cube.

What tips would you add? Let us know what has worked for you in the comments.