Day 156 of 365 - Multitasking Myth
I used to think that I was a great multi-tasker, especially when my kids were young. There seemed to be so much to do in a day that I often felt like a juggler. Sometimes I impressed myself with what I could accomplish, quickly darting from one thing to another.
This strategy was sometimes applied at work too, though I have to say with less success because many of my work tasks required my full concentration and focus. For awhile, multitasking was touted as a success strategy for women with families who also worked in a career. No pressure!
It turns out in recent years that neuroscience tells us that multitasking is a myth. The brain just switches from one task to another in a start/stop manner. We just think we are doing ten things at once when we aren't, except for very automatic tasks like walking while talking to someone for example.
This myth was perpetuated to make over-scheduled people feel and appear more productive. But, it is not a sustainable approach and actually leads to being less productive and making more mistakes.
As I have gotten older, I've mostly given up on the idea of multitasking. This is partially thanks to being less able to remember multiple tasks without a list. In fact, if I don't write down or set out some kind of reminder for myself, the intended plan of action may disappear altogether for awhile.
Sometimes I get very frustrated by this. I could judge it as a negative aspect of getting older, having a slower brain than I used to, not getting enough sleep. But, it's actually a gift of permission to slow down, focus, and take my time to complete a single task before moving on to the next.
My self-esteem and identity no longer needs to be tied into how much 'work' in any sense of the word, that I can accomplish in a day. I actually don't like it much at all now if my day feels overscheduled.
This quote from Buddhist teacher Judy Lief makes a very good point.
"Of course, there will always be aspects of ourselves we like and those we dislike, aspects we are proud of and other aspects we are ashamed of. But the more clearly we come to know all these aspects, the more we are able to relax a bit. Instead of seeing so much of who we are as a threat to who we think we should be, we begin to see all of it simply as what we have to work with."
We don't need to be perfect. We need instead to accept our imperfections as part of the human experience and work with what we have, one task, one step, one focus at a time.
This strategy was sometimes applied at work too, though I have to say with less success because many of my work tasks required my full concentration and focus. For awhile, multitasking was touted as a success strategy for women with families who also worked in a career. No pressure!
It turns out in recent years that neuroscience tells us that multitasking is a myth. The brain just switches from one task to another in a start/stop manner. We just think we are doing ten things at once when we aren't, except for very automatic tasks like walking while talking to someone for example.
This myth was perpetuated to make over-scheduled people feel and appear more productive. But, it is not a sustainable approach and actually leads to being less productive and making more mistakes.
As I have gotten older, I've mostly given up on the idea of multitasking. This is partially thanks to being less able to remember multiple tasks without a list. In fact, if I don't write down or set out some kind of reminder for myself, the intended plan of action may disappear altogether for awhile.
Sometimes I get very frustrated by this. I could judge it as a negative aspect of getting older, having a slower brain than I used to, not getting enough sleep. But, it's actually a gift of permission to slow down, focus, and take my time to complete a single task before moving on to the next.
My self-esteem and identity no longer needs to be tied into how much 'work' in any sense of the word, that I can accomplish in a day. I actually don't like it much at all now if my day feels overscheduled.
This quote from Buddhist teacher Judy Lief makes a very good point.
"Of course, there will always be aspects of ourselves we like and those we dislike, aspects we are proud of and other aspects we are ashamed of. But the more clearly we come to know all these aspects, the more we are able to relax a bit. Instead of seeing so much of who we are as a threat to who we think we should be, we begin to see all of it simply as what we have to work with."
We don't need to be perfect. We need instead to accept our imperfections as part of the human experience and work with what we have, one task, one step, one focus at a time.
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