Heres how to protect your time when you keep getting interrupted at work

Heres how to protect your time when you keep getting interrupted at workHeres how to protect your time when you keep getting interrupted at workOnce you put out a fire at work, there always seems to be another one looming around the corner, threatening to steal your time away - yet again.Heres how to guard your time when youre dealing with constant interruptions and a full workload.Do this when your talkative coworker keeps stopping byIf the old headphones trick doesnt work, try this fix.Its called the FlowLight, a traffic-light like LED that shows those around you how busy you are at any given moment using the colors red, yellow and green. An app also runs on your computer and indicates your availability online.Dont have the resources or the bandwidth for a device like this? Try approaching your nosy coworker face-to-face instead, and communicate how their probing questions can make you feel uneasy.Sometimes being direct is the best way to go, even if its far from the easy way out. Heres what to do when your work calendar is getting out of controlThe meetings can really stack up.Youll need to learn how to say no to some of those Google Calendar invites and try your best to to only book meetings you really need to attend - if you have the power to do that at work.Designating certain hours as off-limits is another way to communicate to others that you have a lot to get done, and need time to focus.Heres what to do when you cant focus at your deskOpen amtsstube plans mean less silence to get your work done - especially when youre someone who needs it to stay productive.Try popping in some headphones to tune out the noise, or moving to a conference room to work.Take advantage of your offices calendar system and book a room to work in if youre able to. It might just give you a leg up when coworkers break into a heated debate by your desk about which of the 2018 Oscars nominations will win in each category, or people get riled up over politics.Heres how to handle too many emails and Slack messagesAhh, the elusive inbox zero.As emails stack up andSlack messages vie for your attention throughout the day, its easy to get lost in the constant stream of communication from coworkers and supervisors.Research has found that the average employees email inbox harbors an average of 199 unread messages, andthe only way to a achieve a clean inbox is to go directly through it, so engage in a ruthless deleting session when appropriate.Also, respond as soon as possible - ithas been suggestedyou reply within an hour of receiving emails and setting response deadlines for ones you cant address right away.Slack got you down? Try logging out or closing your tab for a moment if you get distracted by the icon showing you have new messages, or someone wrote in a channel.Give your colleagues a heads up that youll be taking a timeout for a specified period of time, but give them an alternative method of communicating with you should something come up.