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I walked by the laundry room yesterday and spotted one neatly folded bath towel. Inside the clothes dryer, however, was a large pile of freshly laundered towels still waiting to be folded and put away.

I wasn’t surprised. I knew exactly what had happened. My husband was apparently interrupted during the chore. (He always folds towels; they’re rectangular and easy to handle, unlike, say, a fitted sheet.) So, I finished the task.

Then I tried to remember what I was doing before the laundry distracted me. Why did I come in this room? Oh yes, I was searching for a missing credit card.

The card wasn’t in its usual spot in my wallet, and I was on a hunt for it. I tried solving the puzzle by retracing my steps.

Let’s see; it was raining most of last week, maybe the card was in the pocket of my raincoat? But I couldn’t find the raincoat. It wasn’t in the closet.

That’s why I came into the laundry room! To look for the missing coat that might have a missing card in the pocket.

But then the doorbell rang and I had to pause the search.

This is modern life. Our days are filled with interruptions and short attention spans. It seems we are chronically distracted. And when our focus is interrupted, it’s easier to make mistakes, misplace things or lose control of our schedule.

Later, my husband came home after walking the dogs and found me in the backyard.

“I knew you were here somewhere,” he said. “The clue was an open box of Triscuits sitting on the kitchen counter.”

Ah, right. I started to eat a cracker, but got a text from our daughter who was in need of something, so I attended to that and forgot to put the cracker box back in the pantry.

(But I did fold the laundry you forgot to finish…)

Have we, as a society, ever experienced so many daily interruptions and disruptions as we are now? It seems like smart phones alert and ping us every few moments, breaking our concentration and slowing momentum.

Workers face a barrage of distractions: Messages, emails, chat apps, meetings, co-workers stopping by, bosses wanting something, social media, news notifications and customers requiring assistance. Studies show the average worker is interrupted four to 12 times every hour.

These days I spend a lot of time at a nursing home, and I’m amazed by the discipline (and patience) of the employees. A nationwide staffing shortage means fewer nurses and CNAs are available to serve residents. And their work is constantly interrupted.

Imagine 20 patients needing help in the bathroom and are calling for help at the same time. How do the CNAs handle it? I’ve watched them. The key appears to be prioritization (safety comes first), an efficient routine and a calm demeanor, which comes from experience.

Learning to handle interruptions is a valuable skill, but our world now regularly deals with disrupters such as cancellations, outages and shortages. Here are a few samples from just this week:

“Due to supply chain issues, we anticipate some shipping delays. As a result, your order status may display interruptions.”

“The flight is delayed due to limited availability of pilots.”

“Expect continued internet and network outages this summer.”

“Shoppers are limited to buying only one container of this product due to shortages.”

“The kitchen is closed today due to lack of staff.”

It’s crazy. We all look forward to the day when things run a little more smoothly.

In the meantime, getting work done requires focus and resourcefulness. Sometimes, you just have to put other demands on hold while you finish the single task at hand.

I found the raincoat, but the pockets were empty. After a more thorough search, I found the credit card in my wallet, in a wrong compartment. I must have been in a hurry when I put it away. Or I was interrupted, again.

Contact Susan Hazlett at susanrhazlett@yahoo.com or write to her in care of The Pantagraph, 205 N. Main St., Bloomington, IL 61702-2907.

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