Ah, interruptions.
Those pesky little things that happen to probably everyone – and of course they happen whether you want them to or not.
Today Jeff talked about interruptions, and asked us to look at them from a different perspective:
Instead of calling interruptions “pesky” (the way I just did!) look at them as opportunities for growth.
This was today’s challenge:
Challenge: Let go
When we try to control everything, when we plan every last minute of the day, we get mad when life throws a wrench into the plans. When the hotwater heater breaks. When your kid gets the flu. When your boss has an unexpected “favor” to ask.
But what if we expected these interruptions? What if we counted on them and decided ahead of time who we were going to be in these instances?
Here’s your challenge:
- Decide ahead of time what you will do WHEN you get interrupted today. You don’t have to let everyone steal your time, but choose your response before it happens.
- Block out some time to spend with a person who usually interrupts you. Call her just to chat; if this person is local, ask her to lunch.
- When an interruption occurs, welcome it. Look for what you can learn from the experience, and don’t get annoyed. Instead, embrace this as a chance to grow.
I decided ahead of time that I was going to smile and try to be as pleasant as I could whenever an interruption came.
A by-product of that decision was being secretly amused by the knowledge that I was, in fact, welcoming interruptions and not viewing them as “pesky.”
It worked great! I had more conversations today, and I believe I laughed even more than I normally do.
“Pesky” is good!
Join in the Fray: How do you handle interruptions?
I’m blogging every day this week in Jeff Goins’ “Slow Down” Challenge. Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment!
Copyright © 2013 Michelle Matthews Calloway, ASwirlGirl™, The Swirl World™, All rights reserved.
Hi Jill,
Thanks so much for stopping by! Things are going very well, I’m happy to report. How bout for you? I’m going to take a gander at your blog. 🙂
Stopped by your blog today, and saw you had participated in this challenge. Nice idea! It’s good to be mindful as we go through our daily routines. Hope all is well! Jill (from Blogging School – Spr 2013)
Ah, it’s especially awesome when interruptions pan out for gold the way they did for you. Sometimes the silver linings are not as apparent, yet to some degree they are there if we look closely for them. Awesome Sauce!
FDLOL @ “wise woman!”
I had to interrupt my regularly scheduled work to plan for the next month, which I do not like to do, but because I waited, several good things happened: I caught people at their desks, they had caught up to where I was in the world of college football (photos had been taken after school started) and it was much easier to get everything done. Have a great weekend! bg
Interruptions?
As a wise woman one said: “I aint got time fo’ dat!”
Ha!