Ontiveros @ Textdriven

Howdy! This is the latest article of my series aimed at helping small businesses. In case you’re new to SvN, my name is Ryan Carson, and Jason Fried invited me to guest blog here on SvN. My wife and I run a small company called Carson Systems and we’re responsible for The Future of Web Apps - San Francisco, DropSend, Amigo, Bare Naked App, Vitamin and Carson Workshops.

Alone Time?

Jason recently wrote a great article about the importance of alone time on Vitamin. He talked about how the 37signals team is spread out across the country and how that helps them avoid unnecessary interruptions. This obviously means they get things done quicker.

But what if you already have an office with employees? How do you get that valuable concentration time when no one is bugging you?

Questions Kill Productivity

The problem with working in an office is that it’s perceived as rude to tell someone you’re too busy to answer their question. You know the story. You’re engrossed in an important task that requires your full attention. You’re just getting into your stride and getting things done when New Guy comes over to your desk and says, "Excuse me, um, sorry … where do we keep the blank CDs?".

Now that’s a fair question, as most questions are. But if New Guy had bothered to look around the office a bit (or listened when you told him the first time), he would’ve figured it out himself. (They’re right by his desk on the shelf.)

That is exactly the kind of stuff that kills productivity.

The "Fuck Off" Flag

The way we’ve dealt with this at Carson Systems is by introducing a simple system: The Fuck Off Flag (F.O.F.).

Here’s how it works. We’ve purchased a small flag for each person that represents their nationality (my wife is British, our new employee is Welsh, and I’m American). Next, we stuck some Blue-tac (Silly Putty to us Americans) on the top of each person’s in-tray so it’s high enough to see from any desk. The F.O.F. system is now fully functional.

When you need uninterrupted concentration time, you just stick your flag in the Blue-Tac and everyone knows that you’re not to be interrupted. No phone calls, no questions - you’re basically not there. The F.O.F. simply says "Fuck off, I’m busy", but in a much kinder and more socially acceptable manner

If someone has a question for you that’s important, they can either email it to you, or jot it down to ask you once you’ve taken down your flag.

Voila! Alone time when your at the office!

Your Thoughts?

As usual, feel free to share your own ideas below, or respectfully disagree. Thanks for reading!

Original story: RyanC