The Problem With Multi-Tasking

When summer starts, I always have big hopes of getting some major projects done, excited to tackle all those unfinished jobs that stare at me from every corner of my house. It doesn’t take more than a few days before I remember that, “Oh yeah, this is the kids’ vacation, not my vacation,” and I recognize that their ever-present bodies may interfere with my ambitious plans for painting, creating, and reorganizing. So I try to use each playdate and camp day to make inroads.

But, to be honest, I have been highly disappointed in the results. I am furious when a valuable chunk of “down time” has passed, yet my To Do list remains the same. How can so many hours go by with no real sign of accomplishment when I feel like I am doing, doing, doing the whole time?

And then it hit me. Maybe that was the problem. When I thought about how those “wasted” days had been structured I realized that nothing got done because I was doing this, that, and the other thing all at once. I have always been very proud of my ability to multitask, but I started to think that what I considered a talent may actually be an affliction.

Research indicates that multitasking is actually a misnomer. You may think you are doing multiple things at once, but your brain is actually switching back and forth between tasks, which means none ever get your full attention. To illustrate the effects, consider those stories in which someone is switching between two phone calls until they eventually cross the lines and mix up the callers. It doesn’t usually end well.

My descent into the multitasking black hole begins as soon as I sit in front of a computer. I may start out with a five-minute job to complete, but I often find myself losing hours at the screen. I’m not usually one to “surf” the internet, but the waves sure take me in when I start my five-minute task, then remember it’s time to pay a bill or verify an account. I will inevitably check email, then Facebook, then remember a back-to-school item I meant to buy online which I must price check at three different sites (and ebay). That triggers an investigation of vacation ideas for spring break. On the home page, I’ll catch an unbelievable celebrity or weird news headline that I just have to read, then I’ll check Twitter and find some article that I want to print or share. Then it’s back to email where I notice how cluttered my inbox is. When I start to clean it out, I will find something I was supposed to respond to last week or some forms that need to be filled out. This reminds me of that activity I was going to sign the kids up for, which then leads me to compare that activity with similar programs, which then requires me to check my calendar to decide which day works best……and then I look at the clock and my jaw drops. Lots done but nothing finished, except the day.

My other major pitfall is housework. There is always laundry to do, a dishwasher to be unloaded or loaded (usually both), toys to be put away, messes to be straightened up, papers to be filed. But when I let those mundane tasks distract me, I never even get to start the bigger jobs.

So now I try to narrow my focus. When I see a large pocket of alone time on the horizon (like a whole day at Grandmas!), I pick one job to do from start to finish. I may have another on deck in case there is extra time, but that is considered a bonus and won’t lead to frustration if not completed.

I do all computer tasks the night before so I can stay far away from the screen, and I promise myself I will close my eyes to mess. I also don’t use those days to call customer service, not for anything. Sitting on hold may seem like an ideal time to send emails, file, or do all those other aforementioned computer tasks, but the constant interruptions from recorded voices telling me my call will soon be answered leave me wondering, “Now where was I?”

I have found playing music (not Muzak) helps me to get moving faster and stay focused on a big job. Unless I hear a song that reminds me of a dance I saw once that I must then find on YouTube which inevitably connects me to a Muppet version of the same song (there’s a Muppet version of everything), that then references a must-see version of The Rainbow Connection, that reminds me of a bill I have to pay……