Do Not Disturb

The phrase do not disturb probably reminds you of two things. First, hotel rooms. Second, a setting on your phone.

Appropriate Do Not Disturb Times

When you’re in a hotel, it’s appropriate to put up the do not disturb sign. That simple act alleviates a whole lot of potentially awkward encounters with the housekeeping staff and generally leads to more uninterrupted sleep in the morning. Oh, sleep, you beautiful thing.

Side note: I shared this article and someone mentioned she’s grossed out by hotel rooms. I’ve actually heard that a lot. Apparently a lot of people are grossed out by hotel rooms. I LOVE hotel beds. Do you? Or do they gross you out? Am I gross?

Putting your phone in do not disturb mode may also be appropriate at times. Particularly if you’re addicted to and distracted by technology or social media. {You know, ALL of us for the most part.} There’s something to the whole time-blocking thing when you’ve got things to get done. And, despite what you might think if you saw the tabs open on my computer right now, multi-tasking usually sucks for productivity.

Two Types of People

I worked in corporate America for 10 years and noticed there were always the employees who answered sixteen calls from their friends and three from their parents every single day. These people are interruptible at all times. They may need a little more do not disturb time.

Then there are the people like me. I hate being interrupted when I’m in a groove and I love to get things done. I thrive on productivity. When I flip into do not disturb mode I want to stay awhile. If I didn’t have kids, there’s a very good chance this would actually be a huge area for me to work on. I would need to be in do not disturb less.

Parenting, Aging and Being Interruptible

Parenting forces you into a position where you have way less choice about when you’re interrupted. And yah, that includes your bathroom and shower time.

As mama, I’m interruptible way more often than I would be sans kiddos. For little worker bee personalities like me, this is probably a good thing. My kids hugs, kisses, screams and whining all remind me daily that they are most important now. 😉

Between the whole having kids thing and getting older, I’m learning more and more about what’s really important.

I realize a solid, happy marriage takes work and you need to put the time in. I’m more aware of the true value of friendships, old and new. I understand now how incredible my parents are and I want to appreciate our time together. And yes, I get that my kids are growing at lightening speed. They need a mom who’s there when they need something, no matter what I’m doing.

Knowing all of this, and changing my ways, sometimes on purpose and sometimes out of necessity, to be a bit more interruptible doesn’t come easy. I freak out and need space more than I care to admit and I absolutely get overwhelmed with work. Let’s face it. We own a business so I’m overwhelmed pretty much all the time.

My Do Not Disturb Mode Times

The two times I enter do not disturb mode regularly are the days I work from home and the hours each week when I train.

I don’t take personal phone calls during the hours I’m working at home, unless it’s a call from daycare/school. I’m getting better at not responding to texts right away during this time either. I focus on work and do what needs to get done. School days are short and I know that if I don’t use my work time to work, I’ll be multi-tasking way too much later when I need to be focused on my kids and personal life.

As far as the training thing. It’s tricky when you own a gym to actually train there when your clients are also training. This is especially true when you have a time limit or just need to GSD and want to bang it out in a short amount of time. Our coaches, myself included, tend to wear headphones when we are training at SOS.

Honestly, I feels rude sometimes. It feels like I’m walking around with a do not disturb sign on sometimes, but it’s the only way I can get it done in a semi-efficient time sometimes. Adding in a bunch of side conversations can add up quickly and easily double or triple the time it takes to train. My hope is that our members understand it’s just me practicing what I preach, prioritizing training time even when life is crazy.

How Much is too Much Do Not Disturb Time?

Here’s what I am noticing.

I love time to myself when I am unavailable to the rest of the world. Being productive makes me happy. I thoroughly enjoy peace and quiet.

However, I also value my relationships with my family and friends (and our members!) more than ever. I realize life is short and sometimes changing plans to go with the flow leads the best memories ever.

It's the little moments that make life big. Click To Tweet

So how do I know when it’s time to make an exception during my do not disturb time? How do I know when to let myself be disturbed? Am I too closed off?

Am I adding to my life by having focused work time so I can focus more on my family later? How do I keep my do not disturb time to work on important things, but stay available for the most important things?

I don’t think I have the answer to any of these questions, but I do think it’s worth thinking about. Like many things, I think the answer to whether you need to be more or less interruptible is, IT DEPENDS. Whether you need more or less do not disturb time probably looks different for everyone and also different for you during different times in your life.

I’d love to hear if you have any thoughts on this one!