Slow down there Baba Looey...

We've heard it said that "patience is a virtue".  What an un-virtuous society we must be then...  We want everything and we want it now.  We want to do everything as well.  This mentality consumes both our home and work life.  We have so much on our plate, it seems nothing ever gets done and it is quite overwhelming at times.  I blame all this on multitasking.

There is much myth and confusion about “multitasking” in the human realm.  So first, let me define multitasking so we can establish a baseline.

Doing more than one task at a time. Simple enough, right?

Lt. Aldo Raine

BTW - not only does the quote from the movie above fit today's blog, but it seems Kevin Bacon in last weeks post drove up readership, so I thought I'd see how Brad Pitt does...  Pop-quiz: does anyone know the rest of the quote?

Computers multitask, (sort of).  That is one of the great selling points of most operating systems.  They let us do multiple tasks at once, such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.  However, what computers really do is switch from one task to the other at such an alarming speed, it seems that they are doing both at the same time. They even perform background tasks while you whittle away on the keyboard.  Until of course you get to many things going at once and your system freezes up.  

Humans multitask in the same manner; your brain rapidly switches from one task to the other.  You are reading this and breathing (I hope you are breathing).  You may even be drinking a cup of coffee and listening to the radio (and reading this). Some of you can walk and chew gum (some of you can’t).  The key component in multitasking is the difficulty of the task.  As the tasks become more difficult, the harder it is for you to multitask (or not to be able to multitask).

Studies have shown that as you switch from one task to the other, your brain has to “change gears” for each of the different … (Sorry, I was sending an email, um, where was I, oh, yes…) For instance, if you are listening to a telephone call and reading emails – those two functions require different brain abilities and therefore as you switch back and forth, the other task loses processing power.  How many times have you heard someone on a business call state, “I’m sorry, can you repeat that, I was multitasking?”  Well let me tell you, they were NOT multitasking. They were single-tasking, since obviously their brain had completely shut off the part that was listening to the call.

We all multitask to some degree and there are acceptable levels.  But then there are unacceptable levels as well.

We multitask when we drive.  We are looking, listening, handling the steering wheel, and working the gas pedal.  A lot of hand-eye coordinating efforts.  The reason texting and driving is so dangerous is that both requires the same portions of the brain and body to compete for the most critical resources – your eyes and your brain functions usually succumb to the text, and your driving suffers.  

DON’T TEXT AND DRIVE.  You are not good at it !!!!

It is also important to point out the myth that multitasking is more productive.  People think doing two things at once saves half the time – Wrong.  Every time your brain changes gears, there is additional time added to the task to spool your brain back up on the task at hand.  The more difficult the task, the longer the spool up will be.  Let’s say you have to do two things.  One; write a blog to all your loyal readers.  Two; call your insurance agent to figure out how they messed up your last billing cycle.  Now on the surface it seems if you did those two things together and it took an hour to finish, it probably would have taken almost two hours if you did them separately, right?  What studies have shown is that if you focused directly on one task at a time, it would have actually taken less time.  In this scenario if you focused directly on the blog, you may have completed it in about 30 minutes.  Then if you focused directly on the phone call, you could complete it in about 15 minutes (hypothetically).  Not only would you have completed the two tasks faster by doing them separately, but the quality of each task would have been better.

This is not a new concept, in the 1700’s Lord Chesterfield was quoted as saying,

 “There is enough time for everything in the course of a day, if you do but one thing at once, but there is not enough time in the year, if you do two things at a time.”

So, by now you are asking, “What’s the point?” (or at least you were thinking that unless you have wandered away and are answering emails or checking your Facebook already).  It is imperative that you give each task your direct attention.  You would be surprised how often you have to repeat things (making them longer) or having to answer the same questions later via email (redundancy of work).  It reminds me of an adage I heard long ago, “it takes less time to do it right the first time.” Additionally, whatever it is that is taking your attention away from the current task, the quality of that product suffer as well.

It also helps your sanity.  Let's say for example you have a few things to do today; write a blog, send agent queries, help you child with homework, cook dinner, mow the lawn, attend you child's school event, prepare the PTO flyer, do the laundry and balance the checkbook.  Plus there are things you'd like to do; watch Fallon, read a book, exercise, and play a game of Scrabble.  There may not be enough time in the evening for all those activities and your brain will feel overwhelmed and want to shut down.  You'll probably end up just watching Fallon and whatever else happens to be on TV and get nothing done.  But it is not hopeless.  Prioritize those items (both the need to do and the want to do - the wants can be just important for your mental health sometimes).  Once the priority list is established, do them one at a time.  It is an amazing feeling to look back and see all the completed tasks as opposed to looking back at all the half-completed tasks that usually come with multitasking.

This is a critical lesson that we must learn in this time of media overload.  Our children are already immersed in the social media blitz and it’s only going to get worse as they get older.    Our children may not even know what prioritize an focus means by the time they reach working age – imagine the stress they’ll put on their selves.

Take this week to practice.  Try focusing on only one thing at a time.  If reading, then read.  If writing, then write.  If listening, then listen.  You get the idea.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3 we are told: "There is a time for everything,  and a season for every activity under the heavens:"  It goes on to list several items as examples.  In today's world those examples could easily be "a time to blog", "a time to do laundry", "a time to watch TV"

You may be saying, "Easy for you to say.  You don't have my deadlines, and you don't know what all I have to do tomorrow, and you don't..."  And your right, I don't know what all "you have to do", but don't think we are so different you and I.

Matthew 6:34 - Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I leave you with this today.  The one thing I haven't pointed out in all of the examples above is your need for "a time with God."  We get so consumed in the here and now, we sometimes put Him aside because He is not banging on our door or sending us emails, or demanding our attention.  It's easy to lose sight of that.  So make time for God today too - and when you do... don't make Him share your time with some other activity.

God Bless,

Rob

www.starvt.com