How to Be Left Alone at Work, Without Being Left Behind
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Here's your Money Briefing for Monday, October 23rd. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. You can't avoid dealing with your boss and coworkers. But for some, the constant drumbeat of distractions from workmates has driven them to a boiling point.
Things like office politics, gossip, just these things that are kind of simmering under the surface. This sense that there's more useless meetings, more busy work, and this feeling that I keep hearing from people of like, I just want to do my job.
Why are workplace interruptions and chit‑chat becoming a bigger problem now?
I wish I had more time to just do my actual job.
We'll talk to Wall Street Journal Work and Life columnist Rachel Feinsick after the break.
For many people, they'd get a lot more work done during the day if co-workers would cut the chit-chat and just leave them alone. But does being left alone put them at risk of being left behind? Wall Street Journal Work and Life columnist Rachel Feinzig joins me. So, Rachel, people had lots of interruptions when they were working from home during the pandemic. Why has this become more of an issue now?
It's true that we had interruptions. Some of us were home with our kids trying to do school and all of our lives from the dining room table.
What simple in‑the‑moment tactics can reduce office distractions?
We do know that working from home and time during the pandemic really cut down on things like office politics, gossip, just these things that are kind of simmering under the surface, like our shadow work lives that often take us away from our actual jobs. And now that we've seen both companies doubling down on calls to have people come back to the office, we recently had a story that many companies aren't just checking if you've badged in for the day, but how many hours that you're staying. That combined with an increase in pressure in many corners of the economy and the workplace, bosses and workers are feeling anxious and all of that is bubbling up. into these kinds of interruptions, this sense that there's more useless meetings, more busy work, and this feeling that I keep hearing from people of like, I wish I had more time to just do my actual job.
How can weekly status briefs preempt interruptions and streamline communication?
Yeah, when it gets to the chit-chat, short of standing up and shouting, everybody needs to shut the you-know-what up, how do you let your office mates know that the distractions are getting in the way of you doing your work?
A lot of it is about being proactive, right?
What strategies help you manage up when your boss is the interrupter?
So in the moment, you can do things like wearing headphones. But the thing I have mostly focused on in this piece is about how to make it so that you preemptively get that quiet. So one idea is to every week have a one-page document that you can send out to your bosses and to your colleagues as well, just outlining distractions. detailed status on your project what work did you do last week what permissions or roadblocks do you perceive needing from other people this coming week what percentage done are you with this project and you can link to past installments at the bottom so that when someone comes up to you and has a random question about your project you can just gently kindly you don't have to be a jerk about it but you can just refer them to the link and be like i outlined it last week click here
But what if it's the boss who's interrupting you and pulling you away from your work? How should somebody handle that?
A lot of that, again, is about managing up and being proactive. When it comes to the boss, you want to really make it clear that you're handling your own world. You have things under control.
Could being left alone at work cause you to be 'left behind' professionally?
The more confidence they have in you, the more they're just going to leave you alone. He would take a look at the contours of his boss's schedule. So he would glean what he could from maybe taking a look at the boss's calendar if you can access it or just a sense of what's coming up on my team or in the company this week. And then he would proactively go to his manager and be like, I see you have a meeting with this client.
How can job candidates evaluate company autonomy before accepting an offer?
Here's a report you could give them. And so the boss feels prepared. They know that you have everything under control.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–1:01
2
Why are workplace interruptions and chit‑chat becoming a bigger problem now?
1:01–2:08
3
What simple in‑the‑moment tactics can reduce office distractions?
2:08–2:56
4
How can weekly status briefs preempt interruptions and streamline communication?
2:56–3:09
5
What strategies help you manage up when your boss is the interrupter?
3:09–4:09
6
Could being left alone at work cause you to be 'left behind' professionally?
4:09–4:32
7
How can job candidates evaluate company autonomy before accepting an offer?
4:32–7:58
Speakers
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