Interruptions are all around us. They impact our work, but they are also the source of our work. This presentation is a redux of a similar presentation from 2013, with greater details and emphasis on managing interruptions.

1. http://blog.xkcd.com/2011/02/18/distraction-affliction-correction-

2. The Interruptive Nature of
Operations
Avleen Vig & Carolyn Rowland

3. Remotes
Impact
The Fix
Culture

4. Interruptions are all around us

5. “Interruptions averaging 2.8 s long—about the
time to perform a step in the interrupted task—
doubled the rate of sequence errors.”
- Michigan State University study, 2013

6. Interruptions Come at a Cost
$588b(at least!)

7. Impact to you
● Increased stress
● Missed deadlines
● Slower career
progression
CC BY http://www.flickr.com/photos/bdenker/33237141

8. Impact to your team
● Lack of dependability
● Increased workload for others
● Increased technical debt
● Degraded communication
Critical problem
for remotes!

9. Interruptions and Operations
Evan, thevlue, CC BY
Why do we do
this job?

10. Interruptions are all around us

11. Interruption Sensitive
Environments

14. jbgeronimi CC BY

15. Leonardo Rizzzi, stars6, CC

16. Interruptions are the job
“The person who says something is
impossible, should not interrupt the
person doing it.”
- Chinese proverb

17. Let’s fix it!
http://buzz.socialmarketingforprinters.com/blogs/images/109195046.

18. Resist destructive urges
Jason Howie, jasonahowie, CC

20. Balancing Small vs Large Tasks
● Focused
Batching
● CodeT days
Horia Varlan, horiavarlan, CC BY

21. The Confident Multitasker
Jason Weaver, indyplanets, CC BY

22. http://www.onlinecollege.org/Multitasking/

23. vm.swappiness=0
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/sites/default/files/collaboration.
jpg

24. 2.1 hours/day
(546 annually)

25. Rich Anderson, memestate, CC BY
● Lists
● Tickets
● GTD

26. Task switching
http://xkcd.com/303/

27. 3 minute
attention span
William Warby, wwarby, CC BY

28. (or maybe 25 minutes)
Duncan Hull, CC BY
40%

29. Improving alert design
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chronic_fatigue_syndrome.JPG

30. Improving alert design: Etsy 2011
● 24 hour avg:
1 page/5 mins
● 8 hour avg:
1 page/1.5 mins

31. Improving alert design: Attention
“Information is not a scarce resource.
Attention is.”
- Herb A. Simon (1971)

33. github.com/etsy/opsweekly

34. Improving alert design: Etsy 2011-14

35. Improving alert design: Etsy 2011-14
● 24 hour avg:
1 page/2 hours
● 8 hour avg:
1 page/40 mins

36. Tool overload
Tony Hall, anotherphotograph, CC BY

37. Paul Downey, psd, CC BY

38. Removing barriers to focus
Jessica Mullen, jessicamullen, CC BY

39. Attention Deficit

40. “High” Priority Interruptions
In-person
Instant Messaging
Other notifications

41. Chronic interrupters

42. Culture
Improvements Inside...

43. Level Up
W_Minshull, CC BY

44. Manage emergencies
#warroom / standing down stations
http://images.bwbx.io/cms/2012-05-16/etc_emergency21__01__630x420.jpg
Barbara Abate, biaph, CC BY

45. Meetings
Managers vs makers
http://www.expertcomics.com/enr//wp-content/uploads/2013/03/1slippery-300x200.
jpg

46. Calendars

47. How Urgent is It?
Synchronous vs Asynchronous
Judith E Bell, jhandbell, CC BY

48. Visual indicators
● Headphones
● IRC / IM status to Do Not Disturb
● Closed door

49. How to take vacation
Peter tropical.pete, CC BY

50. Setting expectations
“Be right back!”
- Avleen Vig, circa 2000
(still not back…)

51. Ask for
http://www.smartsheet.com/files/haymaker/Help.Support.Advice.Guidance.Assistance.jpghttp://pixabay.com/en/road-sign-help-street-sign-shield-464648/

52. Working Remotely
The future is now!

53. Unique Challenges
http://funny-pictures-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/MEME-Leisure-Interruption.
jpg

54. Scheduling When You’re New
10:00: Wake up
10:30: Lounge around in pyjamas
11:00: Breakfast
11:30: Oprah!
12:00: Lunch
13:30: Write some code
14:00: Play with cat
14:30: Pile of laundry calls

55. Scheduling As A Pro
09:00: Wake up
09:15: Shower
09:30: Breakfast
09:45: Emails
10:15: Plan the day
10:30: Meeting
11:00: Write code
13:00: Lunch
13:45: Meeting
14:30: Tickets
16:30: Wrap up tasks
17:00: Done!

56. Home Office
John Lambert Pearson, orphanjones,CC BY

57. Cultural Shift
Logan Ingalls, plutor, CC BY
● Remote by
default
● Extroverts and
Introverts
● Nurture flexibility

58. When You Visit The Office
You are
differently
productive!
Pascal, pasakaru, CC BY

59. Where do I begin?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XguhVMDDtZ8/TrgFtH8Pi6I/AAAAAAAAAx8/dFOheYXk5JE/Sweetie187, CC BY

60. Questions?
@avleen @unpixie
http://xkcd.com/705/http://xkcd.com/705/