I used to multi-task. Worse, I used to think multi-tasking was the magic key to limitless productivity.
I mean, the more things you can do at the same time, the more you can do overall… right?
Right?
Right?
If you’ve been reading my newsletter for a while, you could probably guess that my answer to that question now is an emphatic no.
Over the years, as I’ve (hopefully) become more observant of myself and the people around me, I’m becoming more and more cognisant of the limits of our human abilities.
We don’t have limitless physical strength, unbounded reserves of energy, unassailable focus, or infinite attention.1
Doing more things at the same time doesn’t mean we can do each of those things as well as we would were we to tackle each in isolation.
If I’m messaging a friend at the same time as answering a work email, I’m bound to need more time to think of what to say and be more prone to typos and miscommunication.
Which is why many would say focus is the key to higher productivity and better standards, to which I’d heartily agree.
But anyways, that’s not the point of this newsletter.
The point of this newsletter is to wonder aloud to y’all why we multi-task.
The easy answer would be that some do it in the misguided belief that it will help them work more efficiently. They think 1+1=3, or something like that.
But I think many of us by now (even before reading this newsletter) know multi-tasking isn’t necessarily good for us.
So why do we do it?
Why do we check our messages during Zoom calls? Why do we watch a show while we’re eating? Why do we listen to music while we’re walking?
Aren’t we capable of doing just one thing at a time anymore?
Maybe it’s boredom. The Zoom call drones on. We need to look at something while we’re eating. Walking is boring.
We are bored so we find something else to do, almost on autopilot. Did she message me back? Let’s watch something. What podcast should I listen to today?
The past year, I’ve been actively fighting against this tendency to bifurcate my attention. I put my phone in a different room during a Zoom call. I look at my food when I eat. And I just walk.
And it has been so refreshing. Being able to give my full attention to whoever I’m having a call with. Being able to savour my food down to the last bite. Submerging myself in the wonderful sights and sounds that a walk brings.
Maybe we have so many gadgets to keep us entertained these days that we’re not able to sit with boredom anymore. We’re out of practice. We’re spoiled with choice.
I think this is a problem. Multi-tasking diminishes our capacity, detracts from our ability to fully enjoy whatever we’re doing in the moment.
Right now I am writing these words. This is where I am. This is what I’m thinking about. This is me.
Do you agree that multi-tasking’s a problem? Or do you think I’m kicking up a fuss out of nothing?
Do you multi-task?
Am I asking too many questions at once?
Hit reply, leave a comment, share this with many of your friends, preferably not at the same time.
Until next Friday… Stay cool, stay safe, stay thoughtful,
Val
Running out of synonyms here
As you know Val,
I friggin' hate multitasking. Period.
In the past twenty years, the number of distractions has increased markedly. And it is not doing us any favors.