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Possible Duplicate:
Dealing with interruptions / Working in solitary confinement?

... trouble is that it's so easy to get knocked out of the zone. Noise, phone calls, going out for lunch, having to drive 5 minutes to Starbucks for coffee, and interruptions by coworkers -- especially interruptions by coworkers -- all knock you out of the zone. If a coworker asks you a question, causing a 1 minute interruption, but this knocks you out of the zone badly enough that it takes you half an hour to get productive again, your overall productivity is in serious trouble.

Joel Spolsky - The Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code

My question - what are the BEST ways to say NO to co-worker interruptions so that...

  • so that the co-worker has no hard feelings about your denial
  • so that the co-worker is NOT disheartened about asking you something from now on
  • so that you convey the message that you're VERY BUSY and would kill your productivity if you gave in to the interruption right now -- but you're open to anything later
  • so that it is done so subtly and diplomatically that the co-worker never notices that you just want to get rid of them right now
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12  
Put a sock on the doorknob. ;) – Maxpm Jul 21 '11 at 16:51
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If you do it so subtly that they don't notice you'd like to get rid of them, they'll be back. You want there to be a reasonable urgency threshold on their side so that you don't get disturbed for stupid stuff. What may help is the evil eye followed by a friendly smile, which says: "You really disturbed me here, but now the damage is done and I listen to you. Just don't do this again, please." For some people, you have to say this in words, of course. – Jonas Jul 21 '11 at 20:59
Guns. Lots of guns. – CodesInChaos Mar 17 at 14:22

marked as duplicate by Michael K, Walter, Mark Trapp Jul 22 '11 at 5:24

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11 Answers

up vote 24 down vote accepted

In my experience, saying no is useless. Here's why.

The damage has been done

If you have to say something like "No, I'm sorry, this is a bad time," that means someone has already disturbed you by asking "Do you have a minute?". For me personally, that's enough to get me out of the zone. So I just don't bother with saying no and I help the person who disturbed me to get it over with. Otherwise, there'll be a chance that they'll come back later and get me out of the zone a second time.

Unless you find some way to stop people from even asking if you have a moment, there's no point in dismissing them because the very act of asking you this, is enough for you to lose focus.

Damage prevention

So how can you prevent being disturbed?

This is easy if you have a private office. Just tell everyone that if your door is closed, you would like to be left alone and that they're welcome to drop by whenever it is open.

If you work in an open landscape office (like me) where you're in the same room with multiple people (6 in my case), that's a lot harder. You could use some sort of token. Something like a red flag you can attach to the side of your monitor. Whenever the red flag is up, people should know that you don't want to be disturbed. The only thing you have to pay attention to, is that the flag isn't up all the time. Otherwise people will still disturb you because they won't take it seriously.

So basically it means that you have to make agreements with everyone in your office on when people can and cannot be disturbed.

If you have to say no

Now, I'm going to try and answer your question anyway. How can you actually dismiss someone in a polite and subtle way? Well, if the person you're dismissing is a developer as well, I guess he'll understand you. They'll likely know the situation and respect that. In fact, I think everyone would understand that. Even managers have situations when they're in some sort of zone and don't want to be disturbed. I wouldn't worry to much about it. Just make sure that you're polite (don't sound irritated), tell them you're in the middle of something difficult/important and either ask them to come back in XX hours, tell them you'll come to them in XX hours, or ask them if they ask their question over email.

So the rules are:

  • Polite (no irritation)
  • Explain (tell them why not)
  • Commitment (tell them when will be a good time and keep to it)
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3  
+1 for they'll come back later and get me out of the zone a second time -- that happens so often – greengit Jul 21 '11 at 12:53
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I usually have the open door policy, which works well 90% of the time. However, I very rarely (after entering "flow") find myself getting back up to re-close the door to get back to "flow". So, while I do believe there are times when you know you need to get work done and should avoid interruptions, I don't find myself avoiding the situation by the time I need it. – Brad Christie Jul 21 '11 at 14:08
@Brad - Good point. Hadn't thought of that. You could ask your manager to install these fancy spiraling sci-fi doors that you can open and close remotely :-) – Kristof Claes Jul 21 '11 at 14:11
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"The only thing you have to pay attention to, is that the flag isn't up all the time. Otherwise people will still disturb you because they won't take it seriously." So very true. – pyvi Jul 21 '11 at 14:34
up vote 37 down vote

BIG HEADPHONES.. even if you're not listening to music. People will only speak to you if its important...

Works for me.

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2  
+1 on the headphones. – temptar Jul 21 '11 at 12:36
Works for me too - MOST of the time. I still have a couple of co-workers who don't get the clue. I'm not trying to be rude, but please LEAVE ME ALONE right now (with a smile, of course). – Catchops Jul 21 '11 at 13:26
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Not so much, in my experience. I've got some large Sony cans. Even when I wear them AND I turn my back to my cube entrance, people step in and bang on my desk or rattle my chair. There is no escape. – Joshua Smith Jul 21 '11 at 14:33
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A lot of my colleagues are listening to music with their headphones on 90% of the day. In those cases it can be hard to know if you can disturb them or not. – Kristof Claes Jul 21 '11 at 17:14
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.. i always have my headphones 100% of the day, even at lunch, and if someone needs something they send me a message on the IM, or they add a task or a comment in the Project manager software.. now that i think about it, i could work at home and it wouldn't be different :P – pleasedontbelong Jul 21 '11 at 19:42
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up vote 15 down vote

Email Me

I know it sounds simple, but I have found email to be the best method for contact. This is for a few reasons:

  1. Most of the questions I receive are not time-sensitive.
    Sure, it'd be nice to have an immediate answer, but it's not required. And when it means interrupting me for the x minutes it takes for the question and the ~20 minutes+ it takes for me to get back my rhythm --a hour or so response time is acceptable (Look at the SO model after all).
  2. I can answer at my own discretion
    I make it a point to answer back emails as promptly as possible, but only when it's convenient [to me]. Typically this is during a break, a lunch hour, after I just plowed out a huge chunk of code, etc. If it's something that can't be emailed back (intricate answer or need more details) I email them back with a question or a time we can meet. I believe in extending the same email courtesy back rather than approaching their desk and presumably interrupting them.
  3. Email is the new black
    I used to have a hard time getting people to send emails rather than approach or call. Luckily email has become a form of standard and makes for persuading people to use it that much easier. This goes for power users (programmers) and layman (management) alike.

I find this works best, but it's important you maintain a good schedule or diligence when replying. If people find it takes longer or is more cumbersome to email than it is to approach you, they will just continue to hover over your desk. You have to make it worth-while to both yourself, and the people you're in contact with.

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email works -- but if someone is standing right before you -- how do you ditch them gently? – greengit Jul 21 '11 at 14:33
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If they're there, I answer. There's no point shoving them off because, as others have posted, the damage is done. However, I do try to [politely] reinforce (for future purposes) that if they have any further questions they should email me. This is a policy I apply to new employees or contractors we hire as well (try to make it as clear up-front as possible). – Brad Christie Jul 21 '11 at 14:38
up vote 6 down vote

Tell him you are busy now, and suggest a later time.

"Busy now.. can we talk at 1?"

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3  
Simple, but very effective. Most drop-ins are just doing it because it is easier to ask you something than look it up themselves. If you delay gratification it is likely that the balance tips in favor of them doing their own research and they probably won't come back later. – JohnFx Jul 21 '11 at 15:36
up vote 3 down vote

Make your in-the-zoneness obvious and set the norm before the event, not during or after.

As Kristof says, by the time you are interrupted, you have already left the zone, so you're mostly maximizing your recovery time after that. I've managed to do the following when having no interruptions was absolutely crucial:

  • Relocate - I hang a sign in my cube saying I'm around, but I am only reachable by email. I may tell my boss exactly where I am, so he has the over-ride for immediate interruptions. Frequently I take the laptop and go to a conference room.

  • Put up a sign - My favorite was "this is not the engineer you are looking for". Just about everyone got the Star Wars reference and since it was universal, no one felt particularly attacked.

  • Plan your day - with my life and my office culture - 3:00-6:00 PM and 6:00-8:30AM are the optimal zone times for most people. Most chaos is in the 10:00-2:00 region. So I deliberately schedule my interruption-friendly tasks at the times when entering the zone will be impossible anyway - for example Peer Reviews, strategy meetings, get togethers for technical decision making. And I keep an eye on the work and make sure that my deadlines and my zone-windows line up. If they don't, I resort to the first two bullets or I go to my boss and say that I need to find a way to work with less interruptions in my day - is working from home OK? Can I hide somewhere for the next 3 days and be totally unreachable.

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+1 for hiding in the conference room. – CheeZe5 Jul 22 '11 at 2:27
up vote 2 down vote

make sure you use some IM software to communicate with instead of them coming over, that way you can always show if you are busy or not or even choose to ignore questions because you are too busy. If they still drop by tell them you are busy but will get back to them later.

be preemptive - establish certain times when you stretch your legs to talk to people.

headphones

tell upfront when you know a person likes to come over to chat that you are busy today but lets meet up later and specify a time. by being a bit inflexible people start working around your hours instead of theirs.

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2  
IMs still get me out of the zone. – Marcelo Jul 21 '11 at 15:13
up vote 2 down vote

Is it in everyones best interest to not be disturbed by co-workers? I appreciate being able to get into the zone, being focused on something. But often when a co-worker has a question, it's often because he's stuck in some way, being a technical issue he don't know the answer for, or the fact he's working on some of your previous work. In my experience, saying "sorry, I'm busy" can often cause pain for the other person. Okay, you drop out of the zone, that sucks, but if you can save your co-worker 1 hour of lost work, is it not worth it?

As long as it's reasonable, it's just a part of being in an office with co-workers. I've found that most people are pretty good at reading your reaction, if you're a bit annoyed by the disturbance. And for the minority that don't understand not to constantly disturb you, you can try some of the other suggestions in the other answers, or you might just have a confrontation.

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+1. If you're in any kind of technical leadership or mentoring position, then in effect you've agreed to give up some of your productivity for the greater good of team productivity. – Daniel Pryden Jul 22 '11 at 2:39
up vote 2 down vote

If I really need to be "not disturbed" I have a sign I stick to the back of my chair. My colleagues know I will ignore them physically if I have the sign up. I call it my "interrupts disabled" sign.

They send me emails and I reply to them (or go and see them) when it fits my "concentration schedule". I also state that I have a 30 minute window at the start of my day and just after lunch during which I'm available.

I don't have to do this much, but sometimes when there's a "big-concentrate" job I need to do, I make use of it.

My colleagues appreciate that sometimes this is a necessity, so they are happy that they know when they can get hold of me and are occasionally pleasantly surprised when I find I can break off to answer their email before they were expecting it!

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up vote 2 down vote

I've found that pair coding is the best solution. When you're pairing people are less likely to interrupt because you're engaged with someone else already. Also it's quicker to get back into the flow if you are interrupted. Flow is almost instantaneous while pairing because you're engaging with someone.

That's in addition to the other benefits of pairing (knowledge sharing, two sets of eyes, etc. etc.)

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So basically you are saying, get the first interrupting colleague to sit down and pair with you, and the rest will be deterred! – benzado Jul 21 '11 at 17:31
LOL that's one way to look at it. The other is to leverage pairing as a regular practice. I've found it helps me keep focus and the extra set of eyes helps me avoid boneheaded flubs that we're all victim of on occasion. – Mike Brown Jul 21 '11 at 19:57
up vote 1 down vote

Some things that I do:

  • Set new email alert to be as minimal as possible
  • Turn off / set Do Not Disturb on IM
  • Provide a visual clue that I'm trying to focus with big over-the-ear headphones (even if I'm not listening to something)
  • Honesty - Tell them you need to keep all this in your head or you'll lose it and ask if you can come see them when you're done. I'm ususally ready to get away from my desk when I get it all nailed down anyway, and paying them a personal visit with a smile on your face will let them know that it was OK to approach you.
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up vote 0 down vote

Share Joels' Advice

This was a serious problem with one co-worker ("It's almost your lunch time"), so I cut-and-pasted the most relevant parts about interruptions from Joel Spolskys' page. It was not totally coherent, but it was pretty good. I made several copies and put them where they could be seen on my desk. The next time Person X interrupted me, I helpfully discussed the article with them, explained that this information would be useful when they or anyone else around here needed to avoid interruptions by others. I offered a copy, and let them know it was available on my desk. They were really freaked out and left me alone. But they couldn't put any blame on me.

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