Vanishing Act: Making Remarkable Progress Depends on How Often You Can Disappear

Many professionals are uncomfortable shutting their office door or disappearing for any length of time to get things done. They’re afraid of not being available to others when others need them. But this is unreasonable.

Having an all-day, open-door policy will severely limit your productivity to only those moments you get to yourself and will hold you back from making exceptional progress.

Unless you’re in a position of customer service all day long, you don’t have to be—and shouldn’t be— 100% available to everyone, all of the time, every day.

Are you 100% available when you’re…

…in a half-day meeting?
…outside of work and in the dentist’s chair?
…on an airplane flying somewhere?
…in a 1-hour meeting with a client?
…at an all-day conference?
…on vacation?

If you said “yes” to any these questions, you’re trying to multitask too much, you’re spreading yourself too thin, and/or you’re splitting your attention between two or more places or people at once.

This is not only ineffective, but it can also increase stress and in some cases, damage the relationships in your work and life.


What about a Ringing Phone?

I’ve received questions in the past from clients, colleagues and audience members who have asked how to handle the phone when it rings during the times they’re trying to focus and get things done.

A lot of professionals feel like they HAVE to pick up the phone when it rings. But they don’t.

Do you feel that way, too? Because you don’t have to.

Everyone has a choice, but many give up their power to choose.

Whether you’re in the middle of a conversation with someone else, you’re deep in thought or you’re in the middle of an important task, it’s ultimately up to you whether or not you want to pick up the phone.

Interruptions caused by phone calls are distracting, yes, but YOU have to decide it it’s more important to finish what you’re working on and pick up the voice mail later OR to pick up the phone right now and risk losing momentum on your productivity and progress.

If you don’t want the interruptions or the choice, you can simply send calls to voice mail at the start of your quiet time so you don’t have to hear the phone ring during that time.

Just remember, the phone won’t stop ringing, just as email won’t stop coming in, so it’s up to you who’s in charge—you or the communication tools around you.


Let Go of the Fear of Missing Out

Another reason professionals don’t like disappearing for any length of time is the fear of “missing out,” but those who have this fear are setting themselves up for constant stress and struggle.

You can’t be, do, or have everything, everywhere, all of the time, so if you want any productivity and progress at all—as well as peace of mind—start getting comfortable with the idea protecting time and prioritizing.

What are the MOST important things for you to be, do or have right now? Get clarity, make a decision, and then protect time to get it done.

Plan the rest of what you want to do for another moment in time and let go of the rest. If you’ve planned and prioritized correctly, you’ll get to the NEXT most important thing shortly.


Let go of the Pride of Multi-tasking

Study after study has proven that multi-tasking is inefficient and ineffective. And yet professionals still do it—and they’re still proud of it! But this is foolishness.

When you lead a split-screen, split-focus, split-attention day, you’re ultimately compromising the quality of your focus, your work, your relationships and your health, because higher stress levels will result from trying to “do it all” and will lead eventually to burnout. And when you’re trying to “do it all,” you actually get nothing done.

Practice working on ONE task at a time—intentionally and with great focus.

This is a choice only YOU can make, and it matters that you make it, because only YOU can protect your time to produce high-quality work while respecting timelines, goals, and the relationships around you.

If you keep rolling along reactively—trying to be 100% available to everyone all the time—you’re placing the importance of being “available” to others well above the importance of accomplishing work, finishing projects and reaching goals.

If you continue to drop what you’re doing at every interruption, distraction and communication around you, and you protect NO time for yourself, then you’re guaranteed to put your productivity and progress into SLOW motion.


It’s Time to Disappear.

If you want to be an effective executive, it’s time for you to disappear.

Protect time to THINK, to CREATE, to INNOVATE. Protect time to get your MOST important tasks accomplished. Protect time to make meaningful, powerful PROGRESS.

Protected blocks of time don’t have to be at the same time every day, but they should be 30, 60 or 90 minutes long at least twice a day.  Close your office door or disappear into a conference room. Make yourself less available.

Even when you can’t truly “disappear” for long periods of time, you can still commit to (and enjoy) some time for yourself and keep interruptions at bay.

This means NOT answering the phone, NOT looking at email, and NOT addressing any other kind of interruption, unless it’s a TRUE emergency.

When you recall the earlier list of possible times you’re unavailable—1-hour meetings, half-day meetings, being in the doctor’s office or dentist chair, enjoying a vacation—these are proof of you have the ability to disappear for periods of time throughout the day and get a LOT accomplished. And your team, department or business will not fall apart.

Just remember the words of Peter Drucker, an Austrian-born American management consultant, educator and author…

“If there is any one ‘secret’ of effectiveness, it is concentration.
Effective executives do first things first and they do one thing at a time.”

And the only way to do that is to disappear behind a closed door at least once EVERY day.

Leslie Shreve

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an EASIER, more productive workday?


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