How you handle interruptions can mean the difference between a productive day, and one that goes off the rails.  Today, I’m sharing 4 of the worst ways to handle interruptions as a small business owner or solopreneur.

The 4 worst ways to handle interruptions:  Introduction

Interruptions are inevitable, but they aren’t unavoidable.  Still, millions of people handle interruptions in unproductive ways every single day.  While some interruptions are worth your immediate time and attention, others are much less important, but still hijack countless working hours.

If interruptions go unchecked, you’ll repeatedly lose time, energy, and productivity.  That impacts both your business and your personal well-being.  I wanted to share 4 of the worst ways to handle interruptions in an effort to raise awareness around some really common behaviors (that I’m guilty of myself sometimes).  Awareness is the first step toward change, and sometimes, it’s the catalyst to making permanent shifts.

If you haven’t gone more than a single day without interruptions throwing your schedule off track, then you’re probably handling interruptions in at least one of these 4 ways.

A quick note: Sometimes, interruptions need to be addressed

Sometimes, interruptions that come up need to be addressed immediately.  That’s always a judgment call on your part.  I can’t tell you what to address ASAP and what to put on the back burner (although I may make some suggestions).

In short, I’m not saying here that if someone has a broken leg or a very serious issue arises with a client, that you should dismiss the interruption in favor of focusing on the work at hand.  Rather, I’m encouraging you to notice and discern how and why interruptions impact your productivity and wellbeing, and make any desired adjustments.

Dropping everything, every time

The first of the worst ways to handle interruptions is to drop everything, every time you’re interrupted, to address the issue that has come up.

This approach is very common among people who tend toward perfectionistic or people-pleasing behaviors.  The immediate desire to please, to be highly responsive, or to demonstrate expertise outweighs the need to focus on the work at hand.

What happens as a result?  Time and focus are redirected, often to a much less important task, and the original work has to be completed at a later time.  Often, that creeps into personal time or takes time away from other important projects, creating more stress.

If you recognize this behavior in yourself, then you might be tempted to feel ashamed or to criticize yourself.  Know that this behavior is ingrained in your brain and usually tied to deeply-held beliefs.  And, it’s also something you can change.

For some people, stopping for even minor interruptions is a matter of, “I won’t be able to stop thinking about this thing until I get it resolved.”  As a coach, I would explore that thought, because most people have more control over their attention and focus than they choose to believe.  However, as I said above, what you decide to do is always your judgment call.

Disregarding interruptions and having no follow-up plan

The second of my 4 worst ways to handle interruptions is disregarding them altogether, without a plan to address them.  It’s important to have a system in place to identify and follow up on interruptions as they occur.  Otherwise, items that are important but not necessarily urgent (see:  Eisenhower Matrix) can easily slip through the cracks.

If you often notice yourself thinking, “I’ll deal with that later,” and then forgetting about the issue until it comes up again, I’m talking to you.

This response to interruptions often results in missed meetings, overlooked details, getting behind on ongoing discussions, and missing the nuance in various issues.  Others may notice this behavior and think that you don’t value their time or needs.  You might also be tempted to be angry with yourself for allowing things to slip through the cracks.

Again, it’s totally possible to address this issue with a simple follow-up system and some mindset work.  Being angry with yourself might push you into making some changes, but it’s really not necessary to live in the space of, “If I forget to address this, I’ll never forgive myself.”

Using interruptions as distractions

This next one can be a sneaky trick that your brain plays on you.

Imagine this:  You’re at the beginning of a time block to work on something that’s important for your business, but also challenging.  You’re making progress, but wow, it’s taking a lot of effort.

Suddenly, an email notification pops up.  It’s an oasis of ease among the dunes of cognitive effort you’ve been trudging through.  Someone is asking for your help with a task you’re totally capable of.

You click over, start working on it, eventually get it all wrapped up, and send a response over.  You click back to your calendar, and see that it’s time for lunch, or a meeting, a different time block, or the end of the day.  Oh, and that important thing you were working on earlier?  It’s not done, and you’ll need to figure out when to finish it up.

I’m not saying I’ve never done this before – I have, and there’s a great chance I’ll do it again.  However, I have learned how to manage my mindset around non-urgent interruptions, so that I don’t get distracted.

From a neurochemical perspective, it makes total sense that your brain would want to switch away from the difficult work at hand to something new (dopamine) that is very achievable (serotonin) and will help someone else (oxytocin).  Those feel-good hormones are much more enjoyable in the moment than doing difficult, highly-taxing work.

Again, deciding whether to pursue the interruption in the moment is always your judgment call.  However, if it isn’t an urgent issue, it can easily distract you from the more important (albeit more complex) work at hand.

Allowing interruptions to hijack your mood

The fourth item on my list is allowing interruptions to hijack your mood.  This is probably one of the most perilous ways to react to an interruption, because it can easily impact the rest of your day.

Have you ever been interrupted while you were working on something important, and you were irritated for the rest of the day?  How did that impact your ability to get things done?

It’s totally normal to feel frustrated or irritated when you think about an interruption.  However, if you marinate in that frustration or irritation, it can be disastrous for your productivity.  Trying to concentrate, be creative, or solve problems when you’re upset can feel like an uphill battle.  If you allow anger or similar emotions to stick around after an interruption, it can significantly impact your ability to get things done.

The 4 worst ways to handle interruptions:  Conclusion

Interruptions are a fact of business and life.  However, we can choose how to react to them.  Today, I shared 4 of the worst ways to handle interruptions.  Here’s a quick recap:

• Dropping everything, every time
• Disregarding interruptions and having no follow-up plan
• Using interruptions as distractions
• Allowing interruptions to hijack your mood

If interruptions are constantly stealing your time and energy, I get it.  I’m also here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be that way, and there are a few different ways I can help.  First, my free time management guide includes some strategies to help you plan for and manage unexpected interruptions.  Second, I coach people like you one-on-one to change their approach to interruptions, distractions, and everything else that impacts time management.  Schedule a free call with me to talk about what’s going on and explore options.