It has been said that you can tell a lot about a person when you observe them in handling different situations.  For example a test of one's patience and coping skills can be observed in how that individual handles rainy days, elderly people, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.   Using this same idea of coping with challenges instructors face a variety of different and complex situations each time they teach.  When a challenge comes up instructors need to think about possible solutions in relation to how big the challenge is.  Students like to bring issues to instructors and see how they will handle them.  If they can derail an instructor by questioning the attendance policy and getting the instructor to spend excessive time discussing the policy then that student will have accomplished the goal of distraction.  Also, many of the issues students raise deal revolve around consistency.  So make you sure you are consistent in you enforcement of policy, assignments and requirements. 

Sort out the categories of issues that the students bring up by how you see their importance.  You want to devote your time and effort to the major issues within the course and student support.  Don't get distracted to the point you are spending time on minor things that can become major things if let grow.   By dealing directly with the minor issues you can give your response to the students and then move onto course content and skill development rather that spending all of your time dealing with time consuming issues of minor importance.