Why interruptions are good for you.

I’m tired of articles on productivity hacks. We don’t measure success in the same way.

Someone told me a while back that I’m dealing well with my ADD. Funny thing is, I don’t have ADD. When I told her this, she replied awkwardly, “really?”

I guess her comment came about because when I work I tend to get up often, sometimes stare blankly out the window, pause in the middle of a task or say something completely random. On the other hand, I also go through bouts of total focus for hours at a time, often losing track of how long I’ve been working or the fact that it’s two hours past lunchtime. Apparently, when I’m bored, I speak like a robot 🤖 and come across as being totally absent.

After moving past my feelings of dejection, confusion and insecurity, I went to the only person who could answer whether or not I was truly suffering from an attention deficit: my mother. I remember her telling me the school teachers used to let me do my own thing in class, but she never told me this: my teachers had asked her to have me put on medication to calm me down. Naturally, I was like: WHAAAAAAT?

I had a great school career academically and loved reading, singing and writing. I was a really creative, emotional and intelligent child. Did my mom put me on medication? Nope. She had me tested and they told her there was nothing wrong with me; I was just a smart, imaginative kid. I went on to study fine art, which curriculum required a broad range of skills, an expansive vocabulary, a high level of critical thinking and problem-solving, as well as (yip, you guessed it) long periods of focus and exhaustively detailed work.

Thank God my mom never put me on medication.

About 50% of the articles I read online have to do with increasing one’s productivity and spending less time working and more time doing things you love. Just like everyone else, I’m all for this principle (isn’t this what Worker’s Day is all about?), but I struggle to stick to the ‘rules for success’ these authors set out. I cringe at the thought of committing to a daily routine that looks exactly the same every single day. I dislike office jobs (no disrespect to office workers — hey, even I have a desk). I crave creative stimulation every minute of the day and end up feeling like a wilting flower if I grind a purposeless, uncolourful 9 to 5.

If these kinds of interactions only take place outside of working hours, there might be something seriously un-human about you. 🤖

Postscriptum

I apologise for sometimes being interruptive or distracting. I need these little bursts of energy to keep me going throughout the day. I’m working hard at getting better at time management!

I hope you understand,

Sharné

Related posts:

Sometimes I need to send out quizzes for massive amounts of people to take. For this purpose, I make surveys for Mechanical Turk workers to fill out. Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is a platform by Amazon…

Employee wellness programs are gaining grounds and are aimed toward enhancing employee’s well-being, ultimately enhancing their engagement levels and productivity. FREMONT, CA: Employee wellness…

El submarino amarillo estableció su marca dentro del césped del Bernabéu. La posición táctica de Emery fue la de emular a un Pep de antaño. La instrucción fue clara, que el Madrid no tenga el balón…