Instead of being rude, there are some strategic ways to avoid talkative coworkers. These are people who may have good intentions but can easily eat up a lot of your time with chitchat.

While it's smart to have good relations with your coworkers, you can't let them get in the way of your work or force you to work late every day. In this week's 2 Minute Takeaway Podcast, you'll learn several actionable strategies designed to protect your productive time.

The 2 Minute Takeaway Podcast gives you easy to implement tips that will improve your productivity, performance, and profits. Professional Speaker, Author, and broadcaster, Ken Okel, understands what it's like to feel overwhelmed at work. For more about Ken, clips of his live speaking presentations and workshops, plus his weekly productivity tips, visit KenOkel.com.

Today people know Ken for his leadership presentations to companies and associations. Audiences are engaged and entertained as they receive the tools necessary to transform their professional lives. Some enjoy taking part in Ken’s popular Paper Hat Exercise.

Ken Okel laughed years ago when a potential employer described him as being “too versatile,” to hire. Rather than run from this title, he’s embraced it.

For more than a decade, TV audiences watched Ken on the news. At several stations, they saw him perform as a TV news anchor, a reporter, a weatherman, and even a talk show host.

Ken then moved into the nonprofit world for several adventures. These saw him do everything from running a professional ballet company to organizing more than 100 hurricane relief volunteers.