At the ripe old age of 31, I’d like to think that I have figured out how to do a few things right. But the truth is, each day for me still seems to have a fair bit of trial and error involved. What I want for myself these days is to truly take notice of those trials that end in error and learn from them, because honestly, I need some life hacks.
So, I am working on that, which is why I thought it was a good fit when Reader’s Digest asked me to read and then write about an article they’ve got out, 7 Dumb Things We Do and share my thoughts on these things with you. The article was for me, a bit of an eye-opener, because according to it, multi-tasking is one of the 7 dumb things we do that lead to mistakes!
Multi-tasking?? I thought multi-tasking was GOOD! I know in every job interview I ever had, I always touted my great, amazing, fabulous ability to multi-task. “Multi-task” was definitely a job interview “buzz word” for me.
But you know what? The article is right. I make a lot more mistakes when I multi-task, and I waste a lot more time. I’ll go to start an article and then I’ll hear my email ding. I’ll answer two or three emails and then my Twitter notifications will beep. I’ll reply to some tweets and then my Skype message will start flashing. An hour later I’ve still got one error-laden paragraph written of my article and my two-year-old’s nap – my window to get work done – is almost over! If I’d just closed everything else on my computer except for my article, I could have had it done in thirty minutes. Believe it or not, it took me reading this article to realize that!
Multi-tasking can be bad for my parenting skills too. Trying to check email or write while Sophie is trying to climb up on my lap? Doesn’t work too well. Writing an article while pretending to watch Joshua play computer? I’m disappointing my kid and not getting any real work done. Giving the kids my full attention and taking care of what they need and then coming back to my work makes the situation much happier for both of us.
The “trick” that I really took to heart from this article was to “slow down”. It seems simple, but for me, it’s helped so much. When I am trying to do too much at once, my brain just starts dropping stuff – I can’t remember what I was about to do or had been doing and it makes me feel sort of panicky at times. How I’ve put “slowing down” into practice is taking tasks or playtime one at a time, and by making a “to-do” list at the beginning of the day. Since after a distraction I sometimes DO have trouble remembering what I need to do, or was about to do, it’s great to have a list to refer to.
For me, multi-tasking was the one out of the seven dumb mistakes we all make that I am really going to try and stop doing! What mistakes have you learned the most from?
They recently started a test project here on the interstate that lowers the speed limit when traffic is heavier- the idea being that if everyone slows down, then there will be less jams and people will actually get to their destination faster. The slogan is “Slow Down to Get There Faster.” Very apropo for today’s message.
Happy Wednesday!
Multi-tasking and I don’t get along.
I try hard to give my full focus to each task at hand (which is why I’m using those fun social media tools less) so I can actually finish what I started.
Of course, life with kids requires a certain amount of multi-tasking. I’m just consciously trying to reduce distractions that keep me from reaching my goals (little and big).