This course teaches techniques for reducing workplace distractions to improve focus and productivity. It identifies the top 10 distractions as email, phone, mobile devices, social media, computer apps/tabs, music, coworkers, staff, managers, and physical work environment. Specific tips are provided for each distraction category, such as setting email check times, using do not disturb signs, and minimizing clutter. Taking the course can benefit both employees through greater effectiveness and promotions, and employers through improved productivity, quality, and morale.

1. REDUCING DISTRACTIONS
A Captain Time Course

2. WHO IS
“CAPTAIN TIME?”
GARLAND COULSON
AKA “Captain Time”
Time Management Speaker, Consultant,
Trainer, Author, and Coach
Studied time management for over 30 years

3. ABOUT THIS COURSE
This online course is free –You can pause the course at any
time and come back to it
Login and review it again at any time
Please invite others and suggest to your company that all
staff take the course
Social media sharing of a link to this course
is greatly appreciated.

4. WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?
How to reduce distractions to help you
gain more focus
Why distractions are crippling your
productivity
Unlike other “little-value” free online
courses, I will provide specific techniques
to deal with 10 of the worst distractions
most people face in their work day
How to take control of your time and
work environment to prevent
interruptions
My goal is to totally transform your
work day experience!

5. WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?
Run Your Own Business At HomeYou Work For A Fortune 500 Company
These techniques will work whether

6. BENEFITS OF THIS COURSE
FOR EMPLOYEES?
Get more raisesAre less likely to be let go
Employees who are more effective in their work :
Have a better chance at
promotions
Being able to get your work done more quickly reduces
stress and makes you feel better at the end of the day

7. BENEFITS FOR EMPLOYERS
Improved
productivity
Improved work
quality
Less mistakes
Greater team
morale
Less stress and
sick days

8. DISTRACTIONS
Why Distractions Cripple Productivity

9. WORK PLACES - FULL OF DISTRACTIONS
Clutter
Apps
Email Phone
Bosses
Tabs
Staff
Coworkers
Social
Music
Mobile

10. WHY REDUCE DISTRACTIONS?
• EVERY interruption breaks focus
• It can take 20-30 minutes longer to get back to the same level
of productive thinking after EACH distraction
• So if you are distracted many times every hour, you are only
working at a fraction of your potential!

11. WORLD CLASS PERFORMANCE
NEEDS WORLD CLASS FOCUS!
Notice these high level performers aren’t answering their
cell phone or texting

12. TRACKING DISTRACTIONS
• Think you aren’t being interrupted
all that often?
• Think Again!
• Let me prove it to you
• Use Toggl.com (free) to track your time for 1
week and record every time you get
interrupted and have to work on something
different
• You will be surprised how little uninterrupted
time you have

13. 10 OF THE WORST
WORK PLACE DISTRACTIONS
Email Phone Mobile
Social Media
(Facebook, etc)
Computer
Apps/Tabs
Music Coworkers Staff
Manager
Physical Work
Environment

14. REDUCING EMAIL
DISTRACTIONS

15. THE PROBLEM WITH EMAIL
It is human nature to want to
check in case it is something
important or urgent
Steady stream of email
arrives and each time we
get a notification
So every few minutes, we
break our “world class focus”
and check only to find the
email was probably just a
newsletter or junk mail

16. A BETTER APPROACH
• Set a target time for replying to emails
( I choose 1 business day)
• Turn automatic checking of emails off
• Turn ALL email notifications off (Outlook is particularly insidious for this)
• Check email 1-2 times per day at set times and deal with all of it then –
even if just to reply that you will look into it and get back to them shortly

17. DON’T KEEP EMAIL OPEN
• Don’t keep your email program such as
Outlook or Thunderbird open while
working unless that is part of the project
• If using webmail like Gmail, don’t have
an open email tab

18. EMAIL ALL TAKEN CARE OF
Remember, your email still all gets dealt with
– but by using a focused block of time
instead of piecemeal throughout the day

19. MORE EMAIL HELP
Zero Email Inbox online course and coaching

20. PHONE DISTRACTIONS
Set peak focus times, perhaps 1 hour per
day, where your calls goes to a colleague
or voice mail
Have a set block of time for making
outgoing calls or for people to call
Use alternate non-interruptive ways to
communicate such as email and other
messaging apps
Schedule phone appointments to reduce
interruptions

21. ScheduleOnce
I use ScheduleOnce to let people
book call times with me

22. MOBILE
Turn cell phone off or set to
airport mode during peak focus
times and check it during your
breaks
Mobile phones add a
second phone ringing PLUS
notifications, emails, etc.
Dump notifications on email,
Facebook and other apps that
are not critical

23. SOCIAL MEDIA
• Have social media tabs/apps open
ONLY when you are actively working
on your work’s social media program
• Turn off all notifications

24. • Turn off all other programs that
notify you like Skype, Outlook, etc
• Close all programs you aren’t
currently using for the task at hand
• Close all browser tabs that aren’t
currently needed for the task at
hand
COMPUTER APPS,
PROGRAMS AND TABS

25. MUSIC
• Light background music without voice
or ambient noise helps productivity
• Music with lyrics are distracting for
mental focus tasks but work well for
physical tasks
Examples of music that works
Baroque
Celtic
meditative
Meditative
music

26. COWORKERS
Co-workers interrupt us constantly. Here
are some tips:
• Sit with your back to your door
• Don’t make eye contact
• Wear a headset
• Put up a “Do Not Disturb” sign during peak focus
• If personal, say you will talk to them about it at lunch
or coffee
• If they need help, say you are tied up in a time
sensitive task and can help them later - book a time

27. STAFF
Set a 20 minute meeting with each direct report to
go through everything on both your lists with no
interruptions in between other than emergencies
Make sure they go to their own
supervisor first
Handle updates through a task
management system
Encourage them to ask questions via email
so you can handle them as a batch
If your staff constantly interrupt you:

28. MANAGER
If your manager interrupts, try:
• A daily meeting with them where you
cover everything they have assigned
you
• Suggest alternate ways to report
progress
1. Task management system such as
Outlook, Teamwork , Trello or Asana
2. Weekly or daily reports in other formats

29. PHYSICAL WORK ENVIRONMENT
Is the clutter on your desk making it hard to focus?

30. MORE HELP?
• I offer Time Management coaching
and consulting and I can work with
both individuals and groups
• Contact me for a FREE 20 minute
consultation on how I can help
CAPTAINTIME.COM