I'm a developer at an agency and there is a photographer who works in office.
She often has trouble with her computer: accounts, the internet, etc. She comes to me when she needs assistance with things such as clearing cached files (when she needs more space), downloading files, finding a file or link, sending files via drop box, a scary pop-up that says her computer has a virus, etc.
We have a service desk where we can create and submit issues to get help from the IT guys in office. I sometimes send her the link and encourage her to use it more often, but she does not use it. I've walked her through using the service desk, but it is faster and easier for her to just walk over to my desk and ask for help.
Sometimes I try to teach her how to do some things she often asks for help with, but I guess I must be an awful teacher because she usually responds with "That just went over my head- so I should just come to you, right?"
She doesn't seem reluctant to learn because sometimes she says things like, "How can I learn?" Or, "what should I do when this happens next time?"
She does sometimes ask other coworkers for help but I think she comes to me the most because I've overheard other coworkers express grumpiness, annoyance, etc. while helping her.
I do not mind helping her- at the most I spend an hour of my week helping her. But the issue for me is that when she does come to me, she always wants immediate assistance as if her problems were extremely urgent. This sometimes stresses me out when I'm trying to meet a tight deadline or finish something before a client meeting.
When I tell her I can help her in xx minutes/hours, she is very persistent and usually says "Can you just come look for a second?" and I typically give in. She's a nice lady, for me it's hard to say no.
I've mentioned it to our boss and manager before and what usually happens is either nothing (it's just an hour from my week) or they bring it up to her but her behavior does not change.
I've realized that I've gotten myself in this situation because I always give in when she asks for immediate help, but I would like to know if there are steps I can take to better set expectations for when I can help with her computer issues.