How do you handle unplanned interruptions? What if someone or some circumstance “throws off your groove?” You can choose to handle it with grace, you can even make accommodation for those things…or you can get frustrated, angry and sour.

How do you respond when your goals feel interrupted? Not stalled, not fought against…just delayed because other demands or requirements of the day force you to focus on them rather than on what you want to accomplish?

We all know life isn’t a series of individual tasks handled one at a time. It never has been. It never will be. Some of us would love it. Others would get anxious, and even more would slip into a state of numb acceptance.

No, life has layers. Life presents multiple options on a daily basis, requiring choices to be made and priorities to be set.

Proper Perspectives
Now, as Christians, we know Proverbs speaks to planning properly. Jesus speaks to this as well, commending us to count costs, and to prioritize people.

Sometimes, we know those distractions are coming (you may have 3 meetings today, and want to use that time to work on what -you- want to work on instead) but must choose to then be present in those distractions for the sake of the work of others.

Being disengaged from your inclusion in the priorities of others often reads as selfishness. That’s a pathway to resentment and anger.

Properly Prepared

Instead, even in the midst of those distractions, we need to make sure we are planning properly, allowing for interruptions that may come. We must build in time for the unexpected when we’re making our plans for our projects. It’s the only reasonable approach.

When I was preaching on a weekly basis, I’d have my sermons planned and outlined for a year in advance. It helped my team and leadership to be on the same page and allowed for freedom in planning ahead.

But I also left a few weeks out of the year to be marked as “flex” Sundays to account for the things of life that may need to be addressed. It’s easy to fill those moments as you find they’re not needed. But it’s so nice to have a contingency plan in place that allows life to be life.

Planning for stressors reduces stress. Planning for distractions helps us remember there are goals beyond our pet projects and preferences out there…which prevents tunnel vision.

It also makes us much, much easier to work with, and more pleasant to be around, too.