Day 282: Where did the time go?

I have been lagging in my blogging activities lately, and I really have no good reason for it. OK I was busy with... work? family? friends? dog? skating? racing? volunteering? coaching?

Yep - all those things have been keeping me busy. Most of those things, I would say are important.

So why do I feel like I haven't accomplished much?

Perhaps it is because there are too many things in that list. Many of us have been led to believe that the ability to multi-task is a GOOD THING. 

It's the kind of attribute we like to put on our cover letters and resumes, we list it in job descriptions as something desired of our candidates.

But the older I get, the more I realize that not only am I terrible at multi-tasking but that a lot of other people are pretty bad at it as well. It's been written that our brains can only keep a reasonable grasp of 5 to 9 things/concepts/thoughts at one time. So why do we try to do more than that? 

There are a lot of times when multitasking will cost more time/money/energy and cause more confusion/defects/grief. Particularly when we don't give our brains enough time to rest - a break between tasks - to allow for refocusing.

Since I returned from my conference in mid-September, I have been running around like the proverbial headless chicken, trying to keep tabs on too many things, fingers in too many pies, ears tuned into too many conversations. 

Information is everywhere around me. I can get emails on my phone, my iPad, my laptop, and I can seamlessly transition between all three. I can IM with my peers on any of those devices; no problem. I can watch TV, YouTube, or some obscure European movie with subtitles on any of those devices, while thinking about that supplier audit I need to finish planning, you bet. I can take my laptop to a meeting and work away, while still keeping an ear on the conversation going on around me. 

No I can't. Not really. Not if I want to be effective at the task at hand.

So if I leave my phone at my desk and miss your text, or don't answer your email right away, don't take it personally. 

I'm just trying to focus on something.

AMac