Scheduling Time for Interruptions

We live in a world of distractions.  These distractions can be very disruptive in our lives if we let them.  When the "breaking news” in the world is so readily at our fingertips, it is sometimes hard to focus on the tasks we have in front of us.  Although things like cell phones, email, telephones, facebook, and other technological and social networking tools are wonderful and a necessary means of communication, they can also suck the sand right out of our hour glasses.  They can cause interruptions that can distract us from our priorities at the time, diminish the quality of time set aside for family interaction (ie: reading stories with children, family vacations, outings, family night activities, etc.), or simply knock us off the project we were working on long enough that we forget to come back to it. 

I'm sure if you thought about it hard enough, you could think of at least one day in your life where you did nothing but deal with phone calls, unexpected visitors, and children needing short, but frequent bursts of your attention.  When you fall into bed at the end of a day like that one I have just described, you feel as thought you ran around all day, but have nothing to show for the energy you spent.  Last Friday was that kind of day for me.  It felt like my house was Grand Central Station.  Everyone rushing around, playing, working, etc.  People dropping in and out or calling non-stop.  It was very overwhelming and stressful.  

Since I know my day is not all that uncommon among mothers, I thought I would share some ideas that might help you schedule time to deal with interruptions and take back control of your time.

I know what you’re thinking... "How in the world do you schedule unexpected events?”  Well, I’m no expert, but I think you will find some of the tips I will share with you helpful in relieving the stress that comes from interruptions.

Step 1:  First, you need to recognize that interruptions and distractions are both part of life.  They are going to happen and you need to be ok with it.  Once you have come to terms with that, you are ready for step 2. 

Step 2:  Realize that you can control how often you are interrupted.  Thanks to the same technological advances that cause interruptions, we can capture the information being communicated without a lot of time or effort on our part.   Things like voice mail, email and text messages are designed to capture information.  They do it very well, so let them do their job.  By letting them capture what is trying to be communicated, you can finish what you are doing and then get back to them when YOUR schedule allows.

Step 3:  Schedule time throughout your day to respond to these captured interruptions.  If you will set aside 5-10 minutes after each meal to return phone calls, messages, and/or emails, you will find that you can accomplish more during the day, reduce the stress you feel, and deal with the interruptions more efficiently.  You will also find that it takes much less time to respond to these things when you do them all at once.  This is because you are focused on just 1 thing.

Step 4:  If your interruptions result in accepting a task, make sure you set your priorities first.  About 3 years ago, I was working as an office manager for a small but very busy non-profit agency.  One day my boss noticed that I was particularly busy with interruptions.  She called me into her office and told me that she was concerned about the amount of interruptions I was dealing with.   She gave me a wonderful piece of advice that I’d like to share with you.

She said that when your plate is already full with your own priorities and projects, and someone else solicits your help to do something they could do without you, just say "NO!"  If you are asked to do something that they cannot do without your help, do not say yes.  Simply respond with the following reply.  "I have 5 projects to be done before I can get to yours.  Are you sure you want to wait 3 days for me to get to it?” 

I have found that when other people are aware of time commitments you already have, they find other ways to do what needs to be done without your help.  This works great if you are the type of person who has a bit of trouble saying no to people. 

Dealing with "face-to-face” interruptions like those that happen with family members, can be a little bit trickier to deal with.  Here’s a list of interruptions that happen face-to-face and some suggestions for what you can do remain in control of your time in these situations.

Your time is valuable.  Turning off your phone, computer, and other interruptions can help you be more efficient and less distracted.  Let your voice mail, email, etc. capture the information for you.  Then, after each meal, take a few minutes to get back with people.  That way, their needs are met, and you can accomplish more of the things that are important to you.

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