One of the great reasons for rising early is that you will
encounter fewer interruptions in your work if others in the house are still sleeping.
But that doesn’t mean that you will never be interrupted.
Today, Andy encourages us to think ahead as to how we will
deal with interruptions that may occur so that we won’t be completely
sidetracked. If your household includes small children, there is always the possibility
that you will be surprised by another early riser. Do you have a plan to deal
with that? How could you share your morning time with another person if it
became necessary?
Everyone’s circumstances are unique but the point is that
you should consider the possibility of interruption now, before it happens, and
make a plan for when it does occur.
I’m not likely to be interrupted in the morning. It is more
likely that I will have issues at night that will prevent me from getting to
bed at my target time.
Such was the case recently when my teenage daughter took the
car out for the evening. I hadn’t thought of it when I gave her permission to
go, but as it approached my bedtime, I realized that I would not be turning in
until she was safely home. As a result, I was awake much later than I wanted.
I began to get annoyed by the situation, but luckily I was
in the middle of reading (or rather listening to) the wonderful book Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions
by Lysa TerKeurst. If you are
not familiar with the book, I highly recommend it. I began to think of all the
strategies I was learning from that book that were supposed to prevent me from becoming
unglued in a situation such as this.
by Lysa TerKeurst. If you are
not familiar with the book, I highly recommend it. I began to think of all the
strategies I was learning from that book that were supposed to prevent me from becoming
unglued in a situation such as this.
What did I want? I thought that what I wanted was to be able
to go to sleep. But the more I thought about it, what I really wanted was for
my daughter to get home safely and for me to be able to complete the work that
I had planned for the morning.
I decided that instead of becoming annoyed by the situation,
I would get some of the work done right then and there. It wasn’t what I had
planned, but it worked.
I ended up sleeping in about an hour later (it was a
weekend) and then taking an amazing nap in the afternoon.
In the end, I completed my work and I avoided becoming frustrated
by the unexpected situation. I didn’t sacrifice any sleep and my daughter got
home safely.
How will you deal with the interruptions that may affect
your morning time? Come up with possible solutions before it happens.
