CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Get Rid of Interruptions Forever

NOW THAT gives me a feeling of accomplishment,” Ray said as he handed Coach the signed agreement. “This is a milestone.”

Coach smiled at Ray and said, “So Woody said that you can get rid of interruptions forever. When I first started in the business, I couldn't believe that either. But I do today.

“Let me help you understand the one-two punch that is the key to this. Of all the interruptions you get, Ray, which annoys you the most?”

The question took no time for Ray to answer. “When my boss calls and says, ‘Ray, I have a problem. Can you come over for just a minute?’ That ‘just a minute’ can take many hours. It happens about once a month.”

“Great example,” Coach commented. “For the moment, I want you to forget you ever heard of Aligned Thinking. Suppose Monday is an important day. You go in early. By nine o'clock you would probably have the first thing done and be moving on to the second.

“Now the phone rings and your boss says those famous words—”

“ ‘Infamous’ would be better,” Ray interjected.

“Okay, those infamous words. Your boss says, ‘Ray, I have a problem. Can you come over for just a minute?’ Of course you go. But how much is your heart really in it?”

“Not much,” replied Ray. “About 70 percent of me would be going over to the boss. The other 30 percent would still be back wanting to work on the priorities I set in the morning.”

Coach asked, “Do you think this hurts what you do for your boss?”

“Absolutely,” Ray said with a frown. “It annoys me that he doesn’t just say ‘This is an important deal and I need you the rest of the day.’”

“In this case,” Coach continued, “it does not take till five. It takes till six and the kids are playing ball tonight. You’ll miss more than half their games. When you go back to your to-do list, what might you write?”

“I probably wouldn’t write anything but would be running for the train. Later I might write on the to-do list, ‘Forget it! Nothing has changed with this boss.’”

“So, Ray, how does this make you feel?” Coach asked.

Ray thought a minute. “Angry, frankly. Meanwhile, my boss is happy. He got his problem solved.”

“So what would you give to not be angry? What would you give to get rid of interruptions forever?” Coach asked.

“A lot, because I don’t like to be angry. It’s hard to work that way. Besides, getting rid of interruptions would be terrific,” Ray emphasized.

“So here is all it will cost,” said Coach. “First, when you get what many call an interruption, stop and think, This is new information.” Coach paused to let that sink in. “Got it?”

Ray nodded. “I think so. When I have an interruption, I pause and think, This is new information.”

“Perfect!” said Coach. “Not everyone is willing to do that, but it’s a very powerful insight. Second, you apply the freedom insight: ‘I choose my P, primary desire; I accept the NC, necessary condition.’ This is the one-two punch.

“If you apply this technique, I can guarantee you’ll have success stories when you come back in three months, after your first funday for purpose,” Coach concluded.

Ray was willing but more than a little unsure of the outcome.

Ray did not have to wait long to receive his first call from his boss. On Thursday, Ray went in to work thirty minutes early because both his children had games that afternoon. On the way in, he reviewed his professional and personal missions. He took the priorities from his holding pen, guesstimated the time needed, and made the appropriate adaptations. When he arrived at work, he hit the ground running.

He had checked off the first priority and was working on priority number two when, just as he’d predicted, his boss called and said, “Ray, I have a problem. Can you come over for a minute?”

Ray hung up the phone, and following Coach’s advice, stopped to review the one-two punch. This is new information, he thought. He remembered Woody’s advice:

To get rid of interruptions forever, when
new information becomes available, ask,

What’s my Most Important Now—
MIN—related to what I really want?

What do I really want? Ray asked himself. He quickly reviewed the freedom insight he was working to make his freedom attitude.

Accept the NC (necessary condition)
to get my P (primary desire)

What do I really want from work; what’s my P? Ray asked himself. I want an above-average lifestyle for the family I love, he reminded himself. That means I need an above-average income.My NC is helping the boss solve his problem. Solving the boss’s problem is a step closer to the raise I need. This is really an opportunity. My boss’s problem is my MIN, my Most Important Now!

To help himself shift his mental focus completely toward his boss, on his priority list next to the priority he was setting aside, he wrote, “Boss’s problem is my opportunity.”

When Ray arrived at the boss’s office, he was 110 percent committed because he saw this moment as a great opportunity. As in Coach’s scenario, he finished work at 6:00 p.m. that evening. He stopped by his office before leaving for the night. Unlike in Coach’s version, he was full of hope. Most important, he had done what he really wanted. His MIN was moving to his P. This gave him meaning. He recalled what Mike told him three weeks ago: “Activities that give life meaning also give ‘here and now’ energy.”

He moved the priorities he hadn’t completed to the next day and wrote, “110 percent focused on what I really wanted all day.”

While he regretted that he would get to his children’s games late, he saw the children, Carol, and himself getting something significant out of this opportunity. His boss would not forget Ray’s 110 percent focus and commitment to solving his problem.

Similar situations came up periodically in the following weeks. Occasionally the new information came from the boss. It also came from clients, peers, and direct reports. Ray began to make the one-two punch his daily habit and didn’t have to spend as much time stopping and thinking. He learned to deal with new information for what it really was—new information.

Ray had paid the price, and he thought it was a small one, considering his return on investment. Because he was willing to accept a new way to look at new information, interruptions were a thing of Ray’s past.

The freedom attitude was adding to Ray’s peace of mind and to his control over his life and work.