Interruptions | Dealing with email interruptions in Outlook,Lotus and Groupwise

The chances of you finishing this article without getting interrupted or distracted are remote.

“The typical office worker is interrupted every three minutes by a phone call, e-mail, instant message or other distraction. The problem is that it takes about eight uninterrupted minutes for our brains to get into a really creative state.

The result, says Carl Honore, journalist and author of "In Praise of Slowness," is a situation where the digital communications that were supposed to make working lives run more smoothly are actually preventing people from getting critical tasks accomplished. “*

What we need to is to minimize the interruptions email creates by eliminating the distracting bells and whistles that are built into most email systems.

Here’s how:

Outlook 2003 Users

1. From your Inbox folder, click Tools, Options

    2. Click E-mail Options.

    3. Click on the Advanced E-mail Options button.

1. Uncheck Play a sound, Show an envelope icon in the notification area and Display a New Mail Desktop Alert.

     5. Click OK three times to finish.

Outlook 2007 Users

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.

    2. On the Preferences tab click E-mail Options.

    3. Click on Advanced E-mail Options.

1. Uncheck Play a sound, Show an envelope icon in the notification area and Display a New Mail Desktop Alert.
2. Click OK three times to finish.

Lotus Notes R6, R6.5, R7 Users

1. From your Mail database, click on File, Preferences, User Preferences.
2. Click on the Mail icon and select General.
3. Under When New Mail Arrives, uncheck the options for Play a sound, Show a popup and Show an icon in system tray.
4. Click OK.

GroupWise Users

1. Right click the Notify (this looks like a globe) icon in the System tray

2. Choose Options.

3. Select the Notify tab.

4. Uncheck Use same settings for all types.

5. In the settings for Mail Messages the only checked box should be Show dialog for High Priority.

Click Apply.

Priority Management can show you more ways to minimise distractions, be more productive and get more done during your day.

Paul Pondering