When we work at home, we are sure of this: there will always be interruptions. Lately, I know that I have frustrated my business partner who works in the room next door with interruptions. As much as I try, I seem to interrupt his thinking, his work flow, his processes, and even his conversations. (And you thought we were the cutest couple ever!!)

So I have been watching how he handles interruptions. I have been monitoring how I handle interruptions. And I took a stroll back through toddler-mommy days to remember how I handled 100 interruptions an hour.

While I suspect that you are already honing your child management strategies, here is my shortlist of five ways to handle interruptions.

1. “Yes, when you…” This one works well when you are in the middle of an activity that might require the other person to do something, like “yes, when you finish cleaning your room,” or “yes, when I know you are ready to work with me.”

2. “Yes, when I finish…” This is great when you are in the middle of something that you can finish in a few minutes. The more immature your interrupter is, the less time you have to finish. Notice I didn’t say younger, because I know that my own patience to wait may be that of a fifth-grader, hmm maybe a toddler.

3. “Yes, we can talk about that later…” This is really great when you know the conversation will be more effective if it is scheduled, thought through, or can be postponed. Think, “Can we go to Disney this year?” or “Why are you in such a foul mood?”

4. “Yes, after…” This is really great when the interruption involves evaluations or feedback that might be better discussed at the end of a project, instead of during the process. A couple of examples come to mind, “After we complete this project, we can talk about a better way to do it.” Or this may be really helpful when someone is interrupting you while you are doing something for them. “After I get your juice and your cars and you play with them for five minutes.”

5. “Yes, of course.” This one is music to my ears since I am a chronic interrupter.

Did you notice none of my five ways to handling interruptions start with “No?”

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