Distractions @workplace

PALLAVI PASRICHA / TNN / Aug 20, 2007, 00:00 IST

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Trying to concentrate on your work but failing miserably? DT on some of the top reasons why work suffers at the office.

Trying to concentrate on your work but failing miserably? DT on some of the top reasons why work suffers at the office.Trying to concentrate on your work but failing miserably? DT on some of the top reasons why work suffers at the office.Trying to concentrate on your work but failing miserably? DT on some of the top reasons why work suffers at the office.Trying to concentrate on your work but failing miserably? DT on some of the top reasons why work suffers at the office.Trying to concentrate on your work but failing miserably? DT on some of the top reasons why work suffers at the office.
A long day at office and even innumerable cups of coffee and an iron will can’t stop your attention from wandering. And if it happens to be a D-Day when you are getting some important project finished or preparing for a critical presentation, well, you are doomed. Especially as there is no stopping office distractions from causing mayhem with your schedule. A recent study done by Glasgow and Paisley University claims that emails are primarily responsible for keeping you away from work. As you prepare to battle Monday morning blues, here’s some DT insight into what the top distractions are...
Pestering calls
‘You want a home loan/car loan/new credit card/insurance cover...’ Every Indian pro knows the rigmarole. Just when you are about to come up with that great idea or are in the middle of an important official call, your phone will start beeping. You take it and that’s when the various avatars of this question pop up.

Says Sanjay Sharma of Swarovski, India, “These calls are such a pest. They offer all kinds of things and keep on calling. That is why I have stopped taking calls from certain numbers. The other day I blew my top when a persistent salesman called at my office number three times in one day.”
Hi-fliers complain that this is a problem limited only to India.
Says Achal Khanna who is working with Kelly Services, “At times, I am on a conference call and hang up because someone is calling me persistently. Imagine my chagrin when it turns out to be a salesman.” And in all that anger, you forget all about your work. Says fashion designer Ritu Beri, “I can’t concentrate on my work because of such calls.”

Blah-blah colleagues
Where the pestering caller goes out, the talkative colleague comes in.
According to a survey by the recruitment company Robert Walters, 44 per cent employees feel talkative colleagues are a huge distraction. Mayank Goel, who is working with Seagal Financial Securities, says, “These guys just can’t keep quiet. Even if you say that you are busy, they refuse to take the hint. At times, I have to work till late because my colleague is such a chatterbox.” After a long session, you have to start from scratch because the thought process has been broken.
Caught in the web
Accessing personal mails, chatting and surfing the net have emerged as the biggest tech handicaps to smooth flow of work. According to a study done by Glasgow and Paisley University, one in three office workers who use computers regularly suffer from ‘email stress’. The survey says 64 per cent respondents checked their emails once every hour. About 34 per cent do it every 15 minutes.
Says Anjum Khanna, who works with a life insurance company, “Work efficiency is definitely reduced but you can’t help it. It has become a habit.”
Gone for a break
Call it a water-cooler break, a smoking break or what you will... but there is no discounting gossip sessions from a normal workday. “My office doesn’t allow us to smoke indoors and I just have to go every hour. Of course, nobody goes alone to smoke – it mostly turns into lets-crib-about-the-office session,” says Pritam K, a copywriter with an ad firm.

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