Go Flight mode

Go flight mode, your work will fly.

I reached office at 9 pumped with my to do list and got to work. Before I could make the strategy charts that would have really made a difference to the business, I was interrupted by email. Emails to be precise, 56 of them. As I was clearing them a team mate walked up asking advice on a new design he is working on. Then the boss called and asked for an urgent meeting on poor results of last month. Finally I felt like I needed a break and went down for tea. It was 1130 already.

Office workers get interrupted every 3 minutes. That’s the norm. No matter what you do, other people, emails, tea breaks and random things will interrupt your day and steal your productive time. Everytime you get interrupted it will be another 20-30 minutes before you get back to the original task

However there is one time when we are super productive. When no one is around us, especially on a flight. We can get emails done, make presentations, still eat the airline meal, catch a wink and maybe even a movie if the flight is long enough. The secret – no unwanted interruptions. So what if we can access the same productivity every single day.

So my advice to you is to have go flight mode for 1-2 hours every day- the same duration as a flight. Treat it as the time you are dedicating to getting the most important work done without any interruptions.

Here are the simple steps you can follow to achieve this successfully.

Block it in your calender in advance every week when the week begins. Put in flight mode and tell your boss you are doing this to get critical work done.
Turn your phone to flight mode when the time comes.
Turn the emails off. Keep the internet if you feel the need for it. If you are a facebook junkie, turn the internet off too.
Go to a cafe or another floor in the office where no one knows you.
Get to work

Might sound silly but try it for a day. See how much you can get done in 1-2 hours of being uninterrupted by anyone or anything else. In a world where we are interrupted constantly we all need to find our flight mode during the day. Otherwise the days and months pass and we are often left wondering if we are in control of our destiny and our agenda.

Go Flight Mode. Your work will fly.