It used to be that multi-tasking was a resume buzzword, something employers would look for and something I was driven to do over years and years of trying to please bosses, colleagues and my Dad.
Never waste a second. The little (often loud) voice in my head would challenge me, ‘Isn’t there something else you could do while you’re waiting? Anticipate! Prepare!’
Now, I’m I multi-tasking fiend, and the result of over-tasking is that I don’t do any of the things I challenge myself to do well or completely. I find I don’t even finish sentences when I’m speaking now, since half-way (if I get that far) through, I’ve opened a new browser window, started downloading a new software program, have picked up a voicemail, have started to organize my desk and am handwriting a list of all the other things I need to do as soon as I’m done writing the list. And the poor person trying to figure out what I’m talking about (usually my patient husband or understanding son) soon realizes that I’m not paying any attention to them at all now, and I’m now IMing a client or searching for an invoice template.
It’s not uncommon for me to keep 10-20 windows open on my PC, all active ‘tasks’ or things I want to do/explore when I’m done with the others. I’m hard on RAM.
Last night, as a final kick, my son actually had to raise his voice and say ‘Mom!?’... as the chaos of multi-tasking took over and I had completely trailed off – again mid-sentence. I was simultaneously updating Windows software, considering creative options for a proposal I was writing, and remembering that I need to file my taxes. It’s just plain craziness – and even worse – it’s unproductive and unnecessary.
So, I want to slow down. Be deliberate. Focus. Think. Ponder and consider. Produce. Finish. ...Next?
I suppose the irony is that – as I write this – I WAS in the middle of a client project, logging into Turbo Tax, looking up quotes on ‘love’, searching for a file on my PC, and preparing for a conference call in 36 minutes. And on a whim I stumbled across this site and added another ‘task’ to the fray… I’m hoping it’s a task in the right direction.
Thanks for reading. – TT
