If you're constantly being interrupted while you work, you're losing precious work time.  Every time you're interrupted, it takes time to get back into the task you were working on.  You'll have to figure out where you left off.  And you need to regain your last train of thought.

All those lost minutes add up over time.  It can even add up to hours.

According to a study done by Microsoft (in an article titled “The Grand Seduction of Multitasking” on abcnews.go.com), they studied how long it takes their employees to get back to the task they were working on whenever they were interrupted.  They found it takes their workers 15 minutes to get back into the task whenever they were interrupted by email or instant messages.

If it takes 15 minutes to get back into the original task, imagine how much time you'd lose if you were interrupted several times a day.  With 4 interruptions, you'd be spending an hour trying to figure out where you left off.

But during your day, you probably get interrupted more than 4 times.  You can't eliminate all the interruptions, but you can minimize them.

For starters, you can turn off email alerts and only check your email once or twice a day.  Be sure to turn off your cell phone while you work.  Also, turn off your instant messenger or set your status to busy.

If you use an instant messenger for work-related purposes, try having a separate instant messenger account from your personal one.  That way, you won't be interrupted by personal messages.  And your interruptions will be minimized.