Any tips for getting visitors out of your office?

I wish I had a “make the phone ring” button.

Thanks for the tips Penelope. Another idea is to plan to leave 10 minutes before you feel you need to. Depending on where most of the appointments are you can add more “just in case” minutes. Whenever I use my 10 minute rule, I am on time.

The easiest way to get visitors out of your office is to not have any chairs in it. That way they have to stand if they are talking to you, and most people are too lazy to stand for too long, so they’ll leave.

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Well, yes, but it’s a fine line to walk. I mean, we all want friends at work. Work is better with friends. So maybe you could have a folding chair, that you open up when you are feeling chatty :)

–Penelope

You may have the ability to make your phone ring already. If you have an office IP phone you might have a dialer on your computer. Cisco IP phones have that ability. Your phone will ring after typing the extension on your computer. Just make sure the office visitor can’t see your phone or computer display. The call will show as coming from your own extension. It also works great as a practical joke. We often makes calls from our extension to others in our office, while we are out of the office. You can even make calls from other peoples extensions if you know their login. Most of the phone systems default to a particular password and no one changes it.

The easiest way to get someone out of your office is to get up while they are talking and walk them out the door. If they won’t take a hint, mention you have a project to work on. If they still don’t take the hint walk to the bathroom. If they follow you in, go into the stall and just say I’m sorry I can’t talk right now. Works everytime.. And do it everytime and the same timepest will get the hint. Also if you get into work early or stay late, close your door. Let everyone including your boss know you are working early or staying late to get projects done. This is your time.. Close your door and put the phone on do not disturb.. and stick to it!!

Getting people out of your office - I’m just straightforward and honest. I say, “I hate to throw you out but I must. I’ve really got to get this done. Can I follow up with you (in an hour / tomorrow / later this week)?”

You are then on the hook to follow up.

I don’t totally agree with #3 that people who run early are calm, organized, and always ready. I would agree that some people are indeed so but some people unfortunately still arrive at meetings early while being unprepared and anxious. You are right on though with #5 that being late is disrespectful and makes you look unorganized and out of control.

As someone who once was chronically late getting up and out in the mornings, I also sometimes chose to set my clocks and alarms at home to about 15 minutes earlier. It worked sometimes.

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Karen, you know, I think you’re right — you can run early and be a nutcase. Nothing can really make one immune from the nutcase category. Not even being early :)
Penelope

I totally agree to #3. I think that being optimistic about time is the problem of most people who are late. They tend to say to themselves that they can make it, when in fact the time is not enough.

People who show up early are often thought of as being ‘not busy’ and in American culture, ‘busy’ seems to get more respect than ‘efficient and productive’.

Nothing irritates me more than being conscientious about my schedule, limiting the things I prefer to do in order to take care of things that need to be done only to have my time eaten up by someone who feels a need to schedule back to back meetings without being realistic enough to build in buffer time.

This is a brilliant post and I think it is worthy of many discussions, and not just time management discussion but ‘basic respect’ discussions.

“As someone who once was chronically late getting up and out in the mornings, I also sometimes chose to set my clocks and alarms at home to about 15 minutes earlier. It worked sometimes.”

I used to do that, too. But then I’d realize that the clocks were fast, and would mentally subtract the added time and still end up late. Then I decided to set each clock fast, but a different amount, so that one would be 5 minutes, another 7, another 12, etc., etc. That didn’t work, either. Now all my clocks are set correctly. I’m still chronically late, but only to non-important things.

Penelope,

Great tips! One thing that has really helped me over the years is getting an earlier start. I usually wake up and start my day at 6AM.

I take the first few hours of the day to workout, do busy work/errands, and think about what I’ll get done for the rest of the day. I usually have a clear head by the time I get in the office.

I also learned to go to bed earlier, and slowly started sleeping less hours (from 8 to about 6 1/2). I found that taking a quick 20 minute cat nap in the early evening helps out tremendously!

If this isn’t rewarding enough, you could make yourself sufficiently important that it’s okay for you to be late.

amazing tips… thanks.

Does anyone notice that the nearer a person is to the location that he/she needs to be, they tend to be later than someone who has come from a farther location?

Just a thought…

Definitely, my husband grew up across the street from his school, and was never there on time.

Great tips, here’s the list from my article “The 7 Deadliest Time Management Mistakes”:

1. Lacking commitment
2. Holding on to old habits and beliefs
3. Letting time wasters distract you
4. Trying to do everything yourself
5. Underestimating how long things really take
6. Procrastinating
7. Giving up too soon

Thanks for the nice and succinct reminders!

Here’s a personal practice that I find helpful:

Schedule travel time:
Telecommuting may not be an event or appointment in itself, but I make travel time a non-negotiable “appointment with myself”. And to make this “appointment” important to me, I plan things to do – planning, reading, phone calls etc.

This way, it’s clear on my calendar exactly what time I must get up from my desk and start traveling.

#5 is really the key…Be Honest with Yourself:

Well, what I’ve realized is:
1. I’m an adrenalin junkie! I can have enough time to get somewhere and then do something that will sabotage it because I get a tremendous high out of racing to get somewhere. Dodging traffic, worrying about all the awful things that will befall me if I’m not there on time. And yet the high I get must be exciting enough to keep me hooked.

2. I’m narcissistic enough to want to make some sort of entrance. I like to be welcomed when I arrive…and if I’m there later than the other person…well…it’s bound to happen. Crazy I know. But it’s just what I’ve realized about myself.

On the upside, I will always be there is I say I will (just probably 15 minutes late).

And yes, I am working on it! Thanks for the tips!

Wow, I see me in so many comments.
1. I am a time pessimist
2. I am an adrenalin junkie too.

Man do I sabotage myself so often when I could be early.

I have done the setting the clock ahead too. Then of course I count those extra minutes. Get up early, don’t work. Go to bed early still don’t work.

I hate the feeling and being counted on as being there late. Even though when I get there I go beyond call of duty, it doesn’t count. I truly know I am chronically late and want to stop. SOMEBODY, ANYBODY HELP IF YOU BEAT THIS THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Help! I am so frustrated. I teach Title Reading 1st and 2nd grades and have been at the same school for my entire teaching career-8+ years. I feel trapped and do not feel like my school system will let me grow professionally. I am doing a terrific job however they have cut my help and I have 80 students/10 classes with 5 pages of paperwork per head. I am tired and the environment at my school is such that the moral is very low as well as the system in which I teach. My family lives in this area. I love it here except for my job. The perks are hard to leave-kids, vacation. Please help me. I am not sure what to ask so ANY help is appreciated!! I am also 35, not married, no children and I just sold my condo to downsize and pay off debt. My car just went kapooie unexpectedly. Help:)

K October 8 - Grad school is right for you! Stop teaching! Get another graduate degree - is it Masters or PhD whatever it is, get it, it’s the easiest way to transition into what you want. Teaching is a thankless profession for people who can’t think of anything else to do. Whatever subject you enjoy, go to grad school and study it - hopefully something to do with making money! Good luck. I am 35, single, no kids too and I am also trying to make a career change from a dead-end situation.