Do you feel like you can never finish your routines because of constant disruptions?
Does it feel like you’ll never can catch up much less get ahead?
We all have disruptions in our lives. Some are daily, some are only every once in a while, and some are life changing, for good and for bad.
How boring would life be if everyday was the same as the one before?
At the same time without regular routines our homes and lives can quickly become chaotic. That’s when it’s easy to become overwhelmed.
Small disruptions will throw us off temporarily. Usually we can jump right in where we left off. Medium disruptions may call for a change in routines for a little longer period of time but they are still usually temporary. It’s the large disruptions that call for changing our routines to a “new normal”.
In this blog post I will list some of those small disruptions and offer a few solutions to help minimize them. The medium and large disruptions in our lives will be addressed in Part 2 and Part 3 of this series.
So what are these small things, that in spite of their size, have a tendency drive us crazy?
Small Disruptions
- Random phone calls from family or friends through out the day.
- Spam phone calls.
- Children wanting or needing attention while you are cleaning, doing paperwork, or cooking dinner. We won’t even get into children disrupting you if you work from home for business.
- Pets wanting or needing attention. The dog needs to go outside. The cat wants to play and won’t leave you alone until he gets his playtime.
The above things and many more like them may disrupt your daily routines. The key is to not over-schedule your day so there is time allowed for the disruptions.
Here are a few specific things you can do to reduce/control some of the things listed above.
- Let the answering machine take all calls even from friends and family when you are in the middle of doing something. You can check the message and call them back when it’s convenient for you. If you can, set ground rules ahead of time as to the best time for them to call you or you call them.
- If you get calls on your cell phone you can use a different ring tone for different people. This way you will know right away if you want to answer it or not.
- Sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry and also your state ‘Do Not Call list’ if it has one. It won’t stop all the spam calls but it should reduce them.
- Plan ahead to keep your children busy or even better, include them as much as possible with doing your routines. Doing “chores” with you will make it more fun and a learning time for them. Spending quality time together is much more valuable then having a perfectly cleaned home.
- If you have a dog that needs to be walked or played with during the day plan the walks according to your schedule. Instead of a disruption it will become a scheduled mini exercise break for you and a potty break for the dog. Studies show that pets help reduce stress and tension. Look at these disruptions as breaks to help you relax. You can try this with a cat but if you are a cat owner you know how independent and stubborn they can be.
If you experience other kinds of disruptions that tend to drive you crazy please share them in the comment section. You never know, either I or even one of my readers just might have a great solution to your problem.
To a lighter load along the way.
Janice