How to prevent work interruptions, including the ones you create yourself 

Few things are more infuriating than having something come along and break your concentration just as you’re starting to make real progress.

But if you want to keep interruptions from cutting into your workflow, Inc. reports, you first have to accept this brutal truth: For most of us, the most destructive interruptions are those we allow, or even create ourselves. 

It’s very hard to break the self-interruption habit. Here are some tactics that can help:

1. Technology brings interruptions. Use it to limit them instead. You can use settings on your computer and phone to mute incoming notifications, but still allow for truly urgent messages to get through.
2. Wait 10 seconds. When you get a notification, your automatic reaction may be to interrupt what you’re doing and look at it. Try to break into that response by counting out 10 seconds and asking yourself if you really need to check it. You most likely will reach a natural break point in your task sometime within the next 30 to 45 minutes and can check then.
3. Plan for working blocks of time and break times. One example of this is the Pomodoro technique, which calls for 25 minutes of work time followed by five minutes of break time. That makes a lot of sense, considering that research suggests most adults can sustain attention for about 20 minutes at a time. Read the full story from Inc.