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Managing Disruptions to the Routine
By Polly | May 12, 2008
Last month in our Conquering the Chaos segment, we talked about the power of a good routine and how having one for your family can really help you and your kids feel less stressed and frustrated. But because sometimes life doesn’t always go according to plan, it is important to understand how disruptions can impact your routine and how families can adjust when they do happened. Here are four strategies to help you deal with and manage the disruptions.
Anticipate Disruptions
Sometimes the impact of disruptions can be minimized by simply anticipating them and making changes to accommodate them. For example, if your daughter has a doctor’s appointment one morning that will take you away from your morning routine and make it virtually impossible to get everything done, take some time to decide before the appointment which items can either be moved, deleted, or delegated. By taking time every day to review your family calendar or planner and looking ahead the next few days, you will quickly notice the conflicts and can take steps to make changes. For example, maybe a co-worker can handle a work assignment or a friend would be willing to swap classroom volunteer times with you. The key to making this work is to look ahead and make plans to handle the disruptions BEFORE they happen.
Set Boundaries
Block off times on your calendar or schedule for certain items. For example, only schedule regular doctor’s appointments for a certain day of the week or during a certain time period each day. Or, let your son’s teacher know that you would love to volunteer in the class but you can only make it on certain days or a specific number of times each month. By taking the time to set boundaries around your schedule, you can better manage unanticipated disruptions and maintain more control.
Communicate
Sometimes disruptions happen simply because we didn’t communicate well with our spouse or children. For example, if it is a beautiful day and you think it would be great to take a family bike ride in the evening, take some time to call your spouse and talk it over. After all, homework still needs done, baths taken, and dinner made. By talking things like this over beforehand, kids can get homework done before dinner rather than after or you can pick up take out on your way home to save time. Use the family calendar, email, family meetings, text messaging, and the good old fashioned phone to help you stay in touch and better communicate with your family.
Go with the Flow
Unfortunately there are still a lot of things in our life we can’t control and no amount of anticipating, boundary setting, and communicating will minimize the disruptions. At times like these we just need to go with the flow and focus on the most urgent demands and make the most of delegating and deferring. While keeping in mind that most unanticipated disruptions will be temporary and that the strength of your routine will help you easily get back into the groove of things once the disruption has passed.
Related Entries:
Anticipating Disruptions to the Daily Routine
The Power of a Good Routine
Getting Organized for the New Year
Help for the Holidays - Starting Early
Get To Know Ya Trivia