Recapture Your Time & Productivity — Stay Away From The Talk Trap

The person next to you or just down the hall — that's the one who is wasting your time and detracting from your productivity and management skills.
As you listen to the person talk, you probably think of the many things you could be doing with your time that would be far more effective. In fact, it may seem that nearly anything would be a better use of your time. Wasting many minutes and hours listening to a coworker's plans for a remodeled deck or something cute that a nephew said can be super-boring to say nothing of the distraction from your duties.
So, pre-think your behavior. Stay away from the 'talk trap.'

• Stay away from the yacker.


• Carry somthing in your hand for immediate reading and concentration when they approach.


• Say, "Oh, my. Look at the time. I've got something pressing I need to take care of."


• Pick up the phone and begin dialing.


• Grab a stack of papers and begin a quick re-arragement.


• ... and anything else you can think of that will help preserve you valuable time.

   — Joel Stock
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