I’m a big fan of interruptions. Whether I’m working on a project, writing a reflection or doing some emailing, I’ll stand up and walk around every few minutes, whether I need to or not. In fact, I’ll say to myself, “Does that desk need organizing? Why don’t I just do that right now!” When I get a drink of water out of the fridge, I ask “Does it need clearing out of old food? Why not just engage in a total clean out right now?” Maybe I’m just an expert-level procrastinator, but I love it when someone knocks on my office door. “Yes! Something new: A new conversation, a new person to take me down a side path!”
We know that taking regular breaks can serve a welcome purpose. These intentional interruptions can boost our mood, increase performance, give ourselves a chance to pause and refresh, work more efficiently.
All this is fine, as long as we recognize that there’s a shadow side of all this. Because life can get quite intense and stressful, we use creative ways to avoid things and feelings that make us uncomfortable. We engage in a whole bunch of unhealthy distractions: food, substances, excessive drama, obsessively working, scrolling, tv, games, etc. Although the reasons are varied for our willingness to be distracted, most often it boils down to us not wanting to be quiet enough to feel and deal with the intensity of our lives and the tension of what’s going on around us in the world.
So perhaps the discernment is telling the good ones from the bad. What are the interruptions that can help us? What are the interruptions that can distract us and get us off-track? When are we saying yes too often? And when are we not open enough to saying yes to the things that break into our oh-so-well-made plans? Does saying yes mean sometimes saying no to something we ourselves need? Does saying no prevent us from something we otherwise wouldn’t experience?
My whole life I have been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted until I discovered the interruptions were my work. ~Henri Nouwen
Interruptions remind us that we have a choice of how to spend our time and how to occupy our mind and we can find this empowering. When confronted with deciding whether to take a trip down a rabbit hole, we can ask ourselves questions like those posed by Nir Eyal, Israeli-born American author and lecturer:
- “Why am I doing this?”
- “Will this help me to grow?”
- “How can this help me be the kind of person I want to be right now?”
- “Will I use this interruption to build strength, knowledge, connection, or to avoid pain or negative feelings?”
- “Where are my boundaries about the balance of looking to the needs and interests of others compared to my own?”
Whatever our answers, may they lead either to renewed focus or a beautiful undiscovered treasure!
-Chris
