Has this ever happened to you? You go to unload the washing machine, only to discover that although you loaded it and put in the powder, you neglected to actually switch it on? It happens to me with frightening regularity and always when I have an overflowing hamper and can ill afford the time to wash clothes, I thought had already been washed! Unfortunately this isn’t limited to the washing machine. I routinely leave tasks half done, because I had become distracted by some other, seemingly more pressing thing.
I went to a Catholic Secondary School. Not because my family are particularly religious, but because there was little choice in Ireland in the nineties! I remember having a religion teacher who was a nun. Her mantra, which she recited daily, was “you can’t do two things at once.” She would go on to say that you can of course try to multitask but that everything will suffer. In essence you can’t do anything properly unless you give it your undivided attention. I spent 5 years in that school and remarkably, that lesson is one of only a handful of things which has stuck with me.
Of course, at the time I gave her wisdom little merit. I was a typical teenager who assumed I knew better. I did not credit this woman, who must have been in her seventies, with any life experience, and so twenty years later I am learning her lesson the hard way.
We live our 21st centuries lives at a breakneck pace. We boast about how busy we are, how little spare time we have and how frazzled we feel. We read books like “The 4 Hour Workweek” in an attempt to boost our productivity. We are always striving to be able to fit even more in. Lately I am beginning to ask myself is there a trade off between quantity and quality. Is multitasking a myth? Are we fooling ourselves into thinking we are achieving more, when in reality we are leaving a trail of half finished jobs in our wake, which will come back to bite us in the ass before long?
There are some things which I won’t even attempt to try to do simultaneously. I cannot have two conversations at once (so if I am on the phone and you try to talk to me, don’t expect a polite reply!) I also can’t text and talk. Past attempts at this have resulted in my typing what I am saying or vice versa, neither of which ends well! Similarly if I am driving and need to concentrate, I have to turn the radio down. Whatever way my brain is wired, auditory stimulation overrides anything else. Happily as we get older, we usually learn to recognise these limitations in ourselves and work around them.
Those of you who follow me on social media will know that I have been getting into meditation lately. It started off as a challenge. I wanted to see if I could commit to daily meditation for 100 days. (As I write this I have clocked up 74) However, as the days tick by, I am noticing just how much it is helping me. I fully intend to make it a part of my daily life, for the foreseeable future. As well as helping me to combat the stresses of modern existence, the meditation is helping me to understand the importance of being mindful in everything we do. Being fully engaged and present in our activities, not just going through the motions like deranged zombies.
When you start to take notice of it, you will be amazed at how many things you do on complete autopilot. For instance, have you ever driven somewhere and when you arrive at your destination you have little recollection of how you actually got there? I have, and it is scary as hell! Surely something as potentially perilous as driving should be given our undivided attention. But we don’t do it. We might be chatting to our passenger. Singing along to the radio. Doing a detailed postmortem of the meeting we had with our boss, or planning a future conversation (yes, I actually do that!) This is especially true on a familiar route. We don’t need to actively concentrate and so the mind wanders.
I am reading a book at the moment called Thrive and in it Arianna Huffington recommends taking one task each day that we do routinely, such as brushing your teeth or taking a shower and doing it mindfully. Actually pay attention to what you are doing, and be engaged. I tried this while brushing my teeth a couple of times this week and I am telling you it is so much harder than you think. I was thinking about pretty much everything apart from the task at hand. It’s a simple exercise, but it really opened my eyes to how much I am not present in my life. I am often times merely going through the motions. Is that what I truly want. To sort of half experience life. I don’t think so.
In an age where multitasking is prized and we are measured on our productivity, being mindful and doing one thing at a time is not the easy option. Added to this, we are surrounded by devices which constantly vie for our attention. We feel like we need to react to them instantly, no matter what else is going on. I am so guilty of this. Sometimes my husband will come home and I will be in the middle of a text chat, or scrolling through Facebook and when he comes in I will distractedly ask how his day was. Invariably, when I put the phone down a minute or two later, I will ask him the exact same question. It drives him insane and I don’t blame him.
It is not going to be easy to break the habit of a lifetime, but my attempts at multitasking have been so disastrous lately that I am going to try to stop myself from doing it. I am going to attempt to complete one task at a time. If and when I catch myself starting something when I am in the middle of something else, I will gently guide myself back to the task at hand. I am interested to see if this actually makes me more productive. It sounds counter-intuitive, but I wonder if in starting less tasks, I might actually finish more. I wonder if by uni-tasking and concentrating on what I am doing a little more, I might be able to get through it more quickly. As well as that, I am pretty sure it will help me to combat the feelings of overwhelm and burn out, which I often experience.
As I write this, I have been tempted to check my phone about 27 times. Which brings me on to my next challenge. Scroll Free September. That’s right. For the month of September, I will be logging off Facebook and Instagram (I don’t use Twitter because it confuses me too much.) My blog posts automatically upload to Facebook, so when you see that happening, don’t think I am cheating. I am not under any illusion that this is going to be easy. I am a social media junkie, but I think a digital detox will be good for my overall well-being. Oh dear, FOMO is setting in already! I will let you know how everything is going. Wish me luck and be well xxx