To Multitask, or Not To Multitask, That is the Question

Last week I walked my son to school. We stopped to look at roly-poly bugs-- he commented that they looked like small tanks. We discussed how Bill Watterson was really good at drawing snowmen in his Calvin and Hobbes cartoons. We were both impressed at how much expression can be given to such a simple object. We just chatted along the way. It wasn't life shattering discussion, but it was fun time spent together.

In order to walk Josh to school, we drive down the hill from our home, leave the car at a local park, and walk the remaining 1/3 mile to the school campus. We get to bypass the stream of cars that sit bumper-to-bumper in traffic each morning and creep along. We also get to bypass the parking congestion near the school. It is an intentional choice to choose to walk instead of just dropping him off on the curb.

On the walk back, I realized that I had forgotten my cell phone in the car. Normally I would have been "multitasking"--walking, checking emails, looking at texts, whatever. The point is that I would have been focused on something else instead of where I actually was. I realized how freeing it was to have nothing in my hands and simply enjoy the morning. My mind was available to recount the time I had just shared with Joshua, to smell the freshness, look at the clouds in the blue sky, and have a few moments as an undivided self.

It made me ask myself, "Why do I think multitasking is the norm for how I need to live my life?" So I began to think this through.

• I racked my brain. I tried to remember when I was first taught to "multitask"? Was it high school? College business classes? ROTC or training as an Army Officer? The corporate world? It is frustrating and at the same time interesting that I can't pinpoint the time when I was actually taught this concept... but it sure has taken root within me. It has become so much part of who I am and how I think I need to act if I am to be efficient and productive. Oh wow, "efficient" and "productive"-two more terms that seem to be a default for me and need to be pondered.

• I did research. I discovered the definition of multitasking is to perform two or more tasks simultaneously. I read that the first published use of the word "multitask" appeared in an IBM paper describing the capabilities of the IBM System/360 in 1965.Source  It appears that it originated as a term used for computers--of which I am not. It turned out that there was much written on multitasking. I had to concede that multitasking is not evil and may be a valid requirement in some life occupations. In some situations it may be a helpful thing--in some...but not all. Ok, I acknowledged that. 

• I recounted personal observations. I noticed that multitasking may impose a kind of amnesia. Case in point, I was in the kitchen last week getting the lunches packed for kids while also doing things on my smart phone and talking to my husband about his work schedule. Apparently, I was participating in the conversation with mindless "umhum" responses. At one point Brian asked me directly, "Did you hear a word of what I just said?"I said yes. He asked me to repeat it. I stopped what I was doing, looked up at him, and just smiled--I couldn't recall a single word. The lights were on but I wasn't home. Yikes--scary.

It turns out there can be a downside to multitasking. It can cause you to miss out in relationships, emotions, and experiences. There is much discussion about how multitasking may not be helpful or not always be the best choice. Wow- who knew? This article revealed a lot of things for me to personally think about.

Here is a snapshot and link to the full article.  12 Reasons to Stop Multitasking.

1. You're not really multitasking but rather task-switching
2. It's slowing you down
3. You're making mistakes and having a 40% loss of productivity
4. It's stressing you out
5. You're missing out on life and experiencing "inattentional blindness" where cell phone talkers are technically looking at their surroundings but not actually registering it in their brains.  
6. Your memory may suffer 
7. It's hurting your relationships
8. It can make you overeat
9. You're not actually good at it
10. It's dampening your creativity
11. You can't OHIO (Only Handle it Once)
12. It can be dangerous

Ouch... there is so much that rings true. I try to convince myself that I can effectively manage my busyness and my tendency to have multiple focuses. I think I can be all places at once and handle it.  Yet in trying to do so, everything just gets a small piece of me--not my best. And that small piece may be a frantic stress case who is technically there but still actually absent.

Too much multitasking makes me feel like I am imposing a form of schizophrenia on myself. I am choosing to exist in a state of disorganized speech and thinking which causes me to have certain elements of social and occupational dysfunction. It honestly wears me down and leaves me feeling frazzled.

I know how relaxing and satisfying it is when instead I live more fully present in my body, soul, mind and emotions--in each moment and the day I have been given. I feel less exhausted and more content. I tend to enjoy the quality of my tasks and finishing them well. I can have freedom to have a single focus on just one thing when that is the better choice.

So, do I have to default to multitasking as my norm in life? The answer is thankfully "no".

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So teach us to number our days,

That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

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