Best Laid Plans, Unexpected Events, and the Choices We Have

Kevin was ready to get the day started.  He only had one scheduled meeting all day, a real rarity. He was looking forward to a day in the office to catch up on calls, emails, filing, etc.  As he walked out the door of his home he slipped on some ice and broke his ankle.  Kevin’s day just landed in a totally different direction than what he originally intended.

Julie woke up all set to get the week started.  She was excited because she was ready to dig in and be a productivity maven.  She had put a task list together and she was geared up to tackle it.  Just as she knocked one item off the list and felt that she was just getting on a roll she was interrupted.  The interruption itself isn’t really important to this story – whether it was a colleague “dropping by”, a client calling, or her son’s school – the fact remains, her roll was brought to a screeching halt.

Does this sound even vaguely familiar to you?
 

Many of us start out our days or our weeks very well intentioned, excited even, to be productive or make a dent in the “to-do” list.  Occasionally, something unexpected happens. The unexpected event prevents us from being as productive as we would like to be.  When this happens we have a number of choices.  The choices are about how we think, how we behave, what we do, and how we respond. 

How do these unexpected incidents affect you?  How do you behave when they happen?  What do you think about when your productivity is directly impacted?

The intent of this article is to highlight the choices we have when these situations arise.  The more we are aware of the choices we have in unpredictable situations, the easier it is to identify a choice that makes the most sense in the moment.

Choice of No acceptance –
We see children pick this choice quite often when something doesn’t go the way they want.  They get frustrated, pout, and throw a tantrum over it.  As adults this is typically tempered a bit, but the same idea applies.  It is a choice to be frustrated, anxious, and even pout about how the unexpected situation threw your plans for a loop.  It is the choice to not accept that unexpected things or events can, and will at times, change our best laid plans.  This often leaves us less productive and miserable doing what came up unexpectedly.  Do you ever find yourself in this choice?  How long do you stay frustrated before realizing that it isn’t going to do you any good?  Do you realize at some point that you should choose another path at least for your own sanity?  While this is a choice, it’s not one I recommend.

Choice of Hesitated Acceptance -
Outwardly there is acceptance that the day just took a big left turn.  Inwardly we don’t let go of thinking about all that we wanted to achieve and how it’s not getting done.  We may be pondering when we’re ever going to have another day to be productive. The “perfect” productivity day still seems wasted even if we go through the motions of having accepted the unexpected change we’ve been dealt.  This is almost worse than “No acceptance” because your inward and outward self are being incongruous.  Have you ever been here?  What do you do when you realize that what you’re saying and what you’re thinking are not synchronous?

Choice of Acceptance –
Accepting that our day or our week is no longer going to be what we originally intended can help relieve the frustration as we look to assess what must still get accomplished and when might we get back to the things put on hold.  When circumstances in life are beyond our control identify how to make the best of it.  Go with the flow.  Be ready to change direction with the new direction set.  How often do you go with this choice right out of the gate?  Is it difficult to get to a point of acceptance for you?  What needs to happen for you to be more accepting the next time your day is turned upside down?

For those few and fortunate souls who can change with the wind and adjust to new plans on the fly; more power to you.  Don’t lose sight of this wonderful gift you have.  When you see someone else struggling to accept unexpected circumstances, offer to assist them.  Share how you think about it and what gets you to choose acceptance so quickly.