How To Deal With Interruptions In Parenthood
As parents, we have so many responsibilities and priorities in life. It’s like we never have enough time to accomplish everything. And because of our hectic schedule and our long list of priorities, we end up forgetting about our dreams and neglecting our other tasks. These are what we call interruptions.
In this episode, I would like to share how interruptions and procrastination impact our lives. And how we can practice practical solutions to resolve them. Gain your focus back and let go of the interruptions.
Talk About Your Dreams With Your Kids
You are the first role models to your kids and everything starts from home and it's important for you to showcase that to your kids. I believe that discussing your dreams with your kids and what your next moves are can be a game-changer for your family, this gives them a perspective that they too can dream.
However, while doing all these things we come across procrastination, interruptions, and other chaotic excuses, and that’s what we need to address.
It’s All About Managing Your Energy
Most of the time, parents think time is the enemy, but in reality, it’s all about managing it and managing your energy. Even if our responsibilities as parents may seem endless, there is still enough time to focus on your personal goals, you just need to find that moment for you.
For me, I have been using the technique Pomodoro, a time management method based on 25-minute stretches of focused work broken by 3-to-5 minute breaks. It's like an antidote to procrastination and interruptions, whether they're internal interruptions or external interruptions. It has helped me a lot in managing my time and my goals, no matter how small they are.
What Is Interruption?
Interruptions are anything that takes away our focus from a task and it takes us away from being present. Especially when you are a parent, when you’re at home, at work, or doing something else, you can be interrupted by thoughts about your children. Things you need to do for them or personal things you also want for yourself. All these are internal interruptions. This kind of interruption comes when you’re working or when doing something.
While external interruptions are the interruptions that surround us. For example, while doing something, you’re kids interrupt you from doing your task. These are the outside forces that demand your immediate attention. Both of these interruptions take away your focus from the task at hand.
There’s A Solution
Yes, there’s a solution. You can manage any kind of interruptions in order for you to sustain your focus, your productivity, and, your results. You don't have to be a slave to these interruptions.
I'm going to share one simple technique that I have been trying and has been working great for me. As I have mentioned earlier I’ve been using the Pomodoro technique. I partnered with a fellow parent and a friend and we became accountability partners. Each day, we spend an hour doing work together and take breaks after a 25 min session. And we learned that simply doing this routine increased our focus and blocked an activity time for us.
And as parents, we might not be able to block four hours and do some creative work, but we can always do that one hour or we can always do that 25 minutes of focused work and it works great.
Another thing that I have been doing is simple just jotting down the so-called interruptions in my sticky notes. Whenever I get interrupted, I just jot it down on paper and that frees up the space in my mind and it allows me to refocus.
And for external interruptions, you can give your children two choices, choices that are going to help you finish your task. For example, I was recording one morning and my son kept knocking and asking for something. So I paused my recording and gave him two choices, it’s either he goes upstairs to his bedroom and play while waiting for me or he can sit in my room for a few minutes until I finish recording. You can put a boundary and you can empower them to make a choice.
Interruptions in life can’t be avoided, especially when you become parents. But there’s always a solution. All you have to do is be creative and find ways to work around them. I hope these solutions help you in your parenting journey and make parenting a lot easier!