time management isn't the problem

just a note about interruptions

One million years ago, before I had kids or a nice car, I worked in HR at a telecom company. This was not the job I wanted, but the job I needed since generally the jobs I want pay little to no money and I had debts to pay. Mostly to credit card companies and mostly because I had to fix things on my car that I couldn’t afford to fix. Anyhoo. Not the point.

So in HR (which stands for Human Resources, by the way, which of course I always knew and didn’t just learn when I started temping at that company) initially I was one of two people responsible for entering any changes to an employee’s record. Promotions, pay grade changes, temporary leave, and all this is so boring I think I just fell asleep while typing. Not only was it boring, but it was never-ending and, like I said, at the time there were only two of us. I ended up having to work overtime to keep up. I was an hourly employee then so at least I got paid to be the last one leaving my floor. And the overtime pay was nice because of the debt. But really that’s not the point either.

This was in the late 90s, when telecom was booming, and, in addition to all the employee changes, the two of us also handled new employee paperwork which seemed to multiply by the hour. We were swamped but for some reason our boss thought time management might be the problem and not that there were only two of us. Despite the small HR department, it was a rather large company so they frequently offered classes for employees. I was “encouraged” to sign up for the time management class, which ironically would keep me away from my desk for a day and allow my work to pile up. But I kind of didn’t mind because it was a break from my boring work and I got this badass planner as part of the course. I love planners. It zipped all the way around and had a three ring binder inside so you could replace the pages. But this also isn't really the point.

So, yes, the planner was cool but what was cooler than that was this very important thing I learned (maybe this is the point?): interruptions are the worst.

In my little cubicle I was constantly interrupted by all the important HR people (which was everybody but me and the other person handling the paperwork). They wanted me to look up this or that, or make sure I entered this specific change today, or whatever. I don’t know. HR is boring and that was a million years ago. But what would happen is every time I was interrupted, I got behind because I would stop and put out whatever perceived fire was presented to me. The time management class taught me that I could say: “I can’t do that right now, but I will have it done before the end of the day” or whatever. It taught me that I didn't have to just jump because they said so. That I could mitigate interruptions in my workday even though I was in an open cubicle that anyone could walk into.

This made a huge difference. Not only could I manage my workload better, but I felt more confident about what I doing. Even though I basically didn’t really know what I doing. My degree is Theatre for Christ’s sake; I barely knew how to turn on my computer in 1998.

Since my HR days, a lot has changed in my life. First of all, I don’t work in HR or in a cubicle. Second, I don’t have credit card debt. Third, I can totally turn on my computer. Fourth, I had kids. And, perhaps this is actually the point, kids don’t give a shit about how their interruptions affect my workload.

Whack-a-Mole is a fun metaphor we mom-types like to use when talking about how kids constantly interrupt us. “Fun” because we don't actually bop them in the head each time the pop up unexpectedly, we just want to. The interruptions started when they were babies but we forgave them then because they were so obviously helpless. But as the years have gone on, we’ve become less forgiving. Now I’m a mom of teenagers and my patience is paper thin. In general, yes, but especially in regards to interruptions.

Even today, I swear to God, as soon as I sit down to have a nice drink and watch a show, up pops a kid with an “Oh, I forgot to tell you” something.

It. Never. Ends.

Then what happens is I say, “You have to tell me this when I can actually do something about it, not at 10 PM on a Tuesday” in a very loud voice. That’s not really a time management strategy. It doesn’t actually help anything. So, if you’re keeping track, that’s not a technique I recommend.

But let’s say I actually listen to my child and try to help them with whatever it is they need and try to consult the good ol’ internet for help. I sit down in my comfy corner of the couch, whip out my phone, pull up the Google, click the result and BAM: pop-up window. Another freaking interruption.

Now I can’t remember what I was doing. Was I about to solve a problem? Maybe. We’ll never know because a damn pop up window interrupted me.

A cool planner is not going to solve that problem. I did all that work for nothing.

At least I have a nice car.