The chaos of life is inevitable. Daily life seems to beat us down like a 9 round heavyweight fight and though this chaos can seem crippling — you can leverage it as a way to create pattern interruptions.

While nearly everyone has (what they would consider) a busy life, it’s not an excuse to stop growing as a person. Instead of giving up, you need to be able to adapt.

After writing about the power of micro habits, I’ve frequently been approached about how people can establish habits when their lives are so hectic.

My suggestion has been to embrace the life you have and begin to leverage pattern interruptions.

What is a Pattern Interruption?

A Pattern interrupting is a technique to change a particular thought, behavior or situation according to the Huffington Post.

Behavioral psychology and neuro linguistic programming use this method to disrupt and change thought patterns and behaviors. It can be as simple as initiating a handshake or as definitive as seizing the moment to travel or fulfill your bucket list.

This modern technique allows you to take distractions, enable them to adjust your mental state, and continue to move forward. Think of it like a car slowing down to turn and then speeding back up again.

The process of utilizing pattern interruptions is a tactic to be able to deflect interruptions and continue being as productive as possible efficiently.

“If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it is lethal.” — Paulo Coelho

How You Can Start Using Pattern Interruption

Every time you have a distraction, it’s a cue for a pattern interruption. What this does is two things:

1. It keeps you engaged and mentally present.

2. It gives you the ability to alter your mental state frequently.

This will prevent you from getting into a ‘deep work state’, but that actually not such a bad thing. Going down the rabbit hole might allow you to get lots done, but it may not be as productive work as you would think.

These pattern interruptions help you to be in more of a “nibble state” where you are more mentally present. This helps you to be both more tactical and creative.

Starting to use this method is relatively straightforward. All you need to do is embrace every interruption, realize it just shook you out of whatever mental state you were in, and then use your new mental state to utilize your new perspective.

This mental shift is subtle, yet effective.

How I‘ve Embraced Pattern Interruptions Recently