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This article presents tips to manage interruptions. Interruptions are part of everyone's work. They cannot be avoided but can be managed. To do so, individuals need to tap latent visual, auditory, tactile, and maybe even olfactory abilities. For instance, they could expand the field over which visual pattern recognizer can range, but doing so only scratches the surface of what is possible. More importantly, individuals need to enrich those visual patterns. If living in a state of continuous partial attention is the permanent new reality, individuals must then engineer interruptions to be subtle, natural, and pleasing to the senses.

Presents information on the results of tests conducted by Key Dismukes, a human factors expert at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and his team regarding the recovery of a person from a diversion of attention. Fraction of students in a study that were able to remember an interrupted task; Significance of giving people a break between tasks to their work recovery; Importance of the results to maintenance technicians.

Reports on the findings of the company Incomm Research on the business buying decisions of women. Discussion of women's dislike for interruptions; Focus on women's objections as points of discussion and a way to express feelings; Reference to the women's resentment of boastfulness; Perception of women about the lack of eye contact.