The neighborhood rooster didn’t get the memo about Daylight Savings Time last week.

It’s bad enough that he usually commences crowing 5 am on the dot everyday with out fail.

However, when we turned our clocks back for Daylight Savings Time last week, 4 am became his new “go time.”

My Sleep was interrupted. Mr. Rooster also roused my husband, who reacted with a few Crumlin-Dublin expressions. Then, because he is a MAN, he could turn his brain off and fall asleep in two minutes. 

Not me. I lay there contemplating my go-to mantra, “ I will use this experience for something.”

So, I thought about how Mr. Rooster had brought my attention to a challenge that we experience during our daily conversations — interruptions.

Most of us are also guilty of this annoying habit, whether we like to admit it or not. Unlike Mr. Rooster, who interrupts the neighborhood’s sleep patterns because of Mother Nature’s programming, Humans can increase our self-awareness and do something about it.

What triggers our need to interrupt?

• A desire to be right or make a point
• Impatience or time pressure
• A need to complete a train of thought
• A desire to assert power
• A lack of self-awareness
• A fear of forgetting what you want to say

People interrupt for a variety of reasons, including:

• To assert power: Interrupting can be a way to demonstrate dominance in a conversation.
• To complete a thought: Someone might interrupt to add to what the other person is saying or to clarify something.
• Mental Health conditions: People with ADHD or other mental health conditions may be more likely to interrupt.
• Anxiety: Someone might interrupt if they’re anxious about continuing a conversation.
• Narcissism: Narcissists might feel the need to dominate conversations.
• Social awkwardness: Someone who doesn’t know the conversation etiquette might interrupt.
• Short-term memory: Someone with short-term memory challenges might interrupt if they suddenly remember something.
• Extroversion: Extroverts might want to move a conversation forward.

What happens when we interrupt someone?

. Interrupting can make others feel irritated, frustrated, or angry. 

. It can also make people feel disrespected and

. make the interrupter appear rude or egotistical.

. It could influence the other party’s interest in having future conversations.

What actions can we take to minimize and avoid our need to interrupt?

· You can begin your conversation agreeing on how you will let the other person know you’d like to make a point. ( ie. You will put your hand up or lift a pen — aka have manners)

· To reduce interruptions, try waiting a second after someone finishes speaking before you speak.

· You can also take a note if you’re worried that you’ll forget what you wanted to say

. Use your energy to listen

· You can also practice thinking, “Nothing I plan to say is so important that it can’t wait for a few minutes.”

Set ground rules for your selve and others and learn more about the art of listening!

Resources:

How to deal with interrupters and get a word in edgewise

How to be more patient

Interrupting is more harmful than you think.

How to respond to being interrupted

Wiley Library – Research on interruptions

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Julienne Ryan Humorist, Speaker, Trainer, Facilitator, Coach

Julienne B. Ryan began her professional career at age five when she did TV commercials and learned important things like “the teamsters always eat first,” her social security number and how to endorse checks for bank deposit.

Ryan studied psychology in college because she wanted to understand humans. She conducted her “field work” in a variety of roles, hearing the phrases “merger synergies, reorganizations, downsizing and rightsizing for change” more times than she cares to mention.

Later she enrolled in an Ivy League graduate school where she paid oodles of money to validate her prior on-the-job learning experiences. However, she did learn to name drop up-to-date theories and trendy psychologists with alarming ease.

Ryan evolved into working in “Talent Management,” a fancy way of saying “try to find people and keep them moderately happy.” With inadequate budgets and staff allocations, she had to find creative ways to encourage her staff to work effectively. These ranged from begging and borrowing resources, improvising childcare, telling stories and even giving snacks as rewards. She tried to convince herself that working a bazillion hours and “multi-tasking” equaled achievement.

Her work took place in cubicles, conference rooms or, with luck, in offices with a door. Occasionally she would make the time to emerge from her allotted real estate to really talk to people. Ryan learned something transformative in the process:

Yes, she was effective. But not because she used fancy theories – or gave great snacks. Ryan’s success, her staff believed, was a result of her uncanny knack for weaving storytelling with humor to motivate and encourage them. Crucially, they encouraged Ryan to de-emphasize “that normal HR stuff” and focus on bringing her unique storytelling skills to a broader stage.

Thanks to them, Ryan continues to collect, connect and tell stories in her work helping people find their “true selves in the world of work.

She is the author of the humorous, all true "The Learned It In Queens Communications Playbook - Winning Against Distraction!".that now includes a workbook and is available at booksellers across the globe..

She is a guest contributor to The Procurement Foundry, LifeBlood, and the global storytelling community.

Certifications include
Accumatch (BI) Behavior Intelligence
Narativ Applied Storytelling Methodologies
Collective Brains – Mentorship Methodologies