The Bunny Ears Method: How to Redefine Emergencies (and Protect Your Sanity)

Summary

• Do You Feel Like the Go-To Problem-Solver?
  Many leaders, parents, and high performers are stuck in constant interruption mode. When everyone treats their issue as urgent, your time, focus, and energy disappear—fueling stress, frustration, and burnout.

• Is the House on Fire?
  Using a simple “bunny ears” rule, the blog illustrates how defining true emergencies creates space for deep work. The lesson isn’t about gimmicks—it’s about clearly communicating when interruptions are appropriate.

• Redefine Emergencies
  If you’ve never defined what constitutes a real emergency, everything becomes one. Clear criteria help teams and families distinguish between critical issues and problems that can wait.

• Urgency Creep
  When everything is labeled “high priority,” nothing actually is. Urgency Creep creates anxiety, busywork, and burnout while undermining focus and decision-making across teams.

• Empower Employees to Make Decisions
  Strong leadership isn’t about being on-call 24/7. It’s about hiring well, setting clear boundaries, and trusting others to operate within defined guidelines—freeing leaders to focus on what truly matters.

Do You Feel Like the Go-To Problem-Solver?

Do you feel like the go-to problem-solver for everyone’s issues?

Whether it’s at work or home, you are constantly being interrupted by other people needing their problems fixed… leaving you no time to do what you actually have to (or want to) do.

You’re not alone.

If you’ve got employees or kids (or employees AND kids) running to you with questions from the moment you open your eyes to the moment you close them, you are in the right place. Read on to learn how to redefine emergencies and buy yourself some breathing room.

Is the House on Fire?

Years ago, I heard a fellow author and friend speak about her writing process.

She was a successful Horror writer who (at that time) had completed two full-length novels and multiple novellas while raising three children, one of whom had special needs.

How the heck did she do that, Sheryl? I can’t go to the bathroom without an entourage.

Well, she didn’t disappear from her family for weeks on end; she simply put on bunny ears.

The rule in her home was that if mommy was wearing the bunny ears, there were only two acceptable reasons to interrupt her:

1. The house was on fire.
2. Someone was bleeding (profusely) from a head wound.

Any other issues needed to be sorted out between the kids or brought to her attention once the bunny ears came off.

Simple. Clear. Brilliant.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to don bunny ears to get things done. When we look closer at her behavior, she did two things:

1. She set boundaries around when she was “available.” (I discuss this more in my book, You Had Me At No)
2. She redefined emergencies.

And whether you’re an exhausted boss who is tired of answering “emergency” calls after hours, or a busy human trying to write your next book (or get ANYTHING else done, for that matter), you can incorporate this into your professional and your personal life. You are allowed to set boundaries (I promise). Check out a clip from my interview on Marc Kaine Live.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Sheryl Green (@sherylgreenspeaks)

Redefine Emergencies

If you’re getting late-night calls or have tiny humans interrupting you every five minutes, you may have never identified or communicated what a “real” emergency is.

Of course, if your business is broken into at midnight, a water heater bursts and floods the building, or the face of the company gets arrested for behavior unbecoming of a human being… you are going to want to know about it. Now, if you have a Security department, Facilities Manager, or a PR department, you may not be the one to fix the problem, but you’ll still need to be notified.

But what if you have (or are) a Chicken Little?

This cautionary fable reminded us to stay calm and think critically… before telling the world that the sky is falling.

Every office has a Chicken Little… someone who mistakes inconvenience for an emergency.

This employee lives in continuous panic mode and truly believes that everything is a freak-out-worthy emergency. While it’s great to have team members who are looking out for the organization, fellow employees, and clients, if you’re getting multiple calls per week that there’s an emergency… it’s time to redefine that word.

Urgency Creep

You’ve probably heard of Scope Creep, but what about Urgency Creep? This is a chronic state of stress where the person believes that every task is “high priority.” This belief can be self-imposed or a result of the culture, environment, and leadership.

(Yep, I said it. If you’ve got a Chicken Little, or your employees are suffering from Urgency Creep, you might have caused it. Don’t hate me. This is actually a good thing. It means that now that you’re aware, you can change it!)

The problem is, aside from the anxiety, overwhelm, and eventual burnout, when every task is high priority, no tasks are high priority.

This means that your employees may not know how to prioritize the most important responsibilities and projects, and may get stuck in the busy work.

If your employees are mistaking everything for an urgent matter, it’s time to help them redefine emergencies and identify what really matters so they can focus their time where it needs to go.

The antidote to constant urgency isn’t more control… it’s more clarity and trust.

Empower Employees to Make Decisions

Some people believe that leaders need to be on-call 24/7, ready to dive in and solve any and every problem. This is valiant… but is it true leadership?

Or, is leadership the act of empowering, delegating, and trusting that you’ve got the right people in the right roles, who can face anything that may pop up?

When you hire the right people, provide them with proper training, and create guidelines within which they can evaluate and make decisions, you become non-essential for 90% of the work.

Boundaries aren’t just about saying “no,” they’re about defining where your leadership ends and your team’s ownership begins. When you trust people to make decisions within those boundaries, you’re not losing control; you’re gaining capacity.

Conclusion

If you keep treating every spark like a five-alarm fire, don’t be surprised when your whole team burns out.

Boundaries don’t just protect your time… they clarify priorities for everyone around you.
When you redefine emergencies and empower your team to handle the rest, you’re not being unavailable, you’re being intentional. (No bunny ears required)

Ready to create an intentional culture that runs on trust… not adrenaline? Let’s chat about how my Boundaried Workplace^TM program can help.

Key Takeaways

• Constant interruptions are often a boundary issue, not a people problem

• Undefined emergencies create stress, confusion, and burnout

• Urgency Creep happens when leaders fail to clarify priorities

• Not every problem requires immediate leadership involvement

• Clear boundaries help teams think critically and act independently

• Empowerment grows when expectations and decision-making authority are defined

• Sustainable leadership protects focus, energy, and organizational health