I LIKE multitasking. I am not always good at it but I try. I like doing as many things as I can at one time. I like being in the “now” and get many things done before I lose interest. It is easier when you have already developed a habit of doing a string of tasks seamlessly, you just need to maintain it consistently.
My mobile phone died on me the other day. I forgot to charge it the previous night and had to rush off to a 12-hour long lecture/workshop the following morning with no time to spare. To make things worse, I forgot to bring my charger. Ugh. Talk about discomfort. I have become so attached to this modern contraption that it felt like I was missing a limb without it. I’m pretty sure a lot of you feel the same way like I do.
In these modern times, it has somewhat become indispensable. I get it. I really do. It is all those good things rolled into one-phone, camera, virtual assistant, entertainment center, library, creative cache. Who wouldn’t want one, right? And for the texting capital of the world, owning a phone has somewhat become an obsession! It has bridged communication in ways that truly amusing.
It is amazing, the powers of technology, no doubt about that. I am amazed about its powers to connect people. It has made relaying information so much easier. It has made some of the unattractive effects of progress more bearable.
Just imagine how much stressful it would be to be stuck in traffic for hours without a mobile phone! We might as well be stuck on an island!!
Given this fact, you must understand my trepidation about being without my constant companion. It felt like I was dying a little as time ticked, realizing I had no means of keeping tabs on the tasks I usually do through the phone on a regular basis (like writing this article).
I was groaning deep inside, feeling a bit lost in thought, worrying about missing an important task, a text or a phone call while I was trying to concentrate on the lectures. Stressful! But wait! As I began to calm down from my unexpected sepanx (separation anxiety) from my cell phone, I realized that it was actually pleasant to have a “one-tracked” mind.
After getting my ADHD-ish behavior to settle down, I actually found it pleasant to be able to concentrate on doing just one thing. In a way, it was good to have unpleasant circumstances like this, peppering our lives.
We would not want the whole pepper shaker dumped on us but a little each time would do wonders in keeping us in touch with the simple things that matter. They may serve as hidden opportunities to learn and realize certain things about life and yourself that may prove to be significant in our daily dealings with the rest of the world.
Personally, it deemed on me that although multitasking keeps us abreast with the growing demands of modern life, it also has its setbacks. We do get a lot of things done by multitasking but I wonder about the full experience of accomplishing a task. There is great possibility of completing an endeavor for the sake of getting it done.
The process of relishing the whole experience gets lost in the bevy of multiple tasks. This may not always be possible but we should not lose sight of it. We are always rushing to get things done that we miss out on the things that makes any accomplishment or goal met more meaningful.
Sometimes we miss out completely that some successes feel empty and we are left wonder what we missed. It felt good to just listen to a lecture and not think about anything else. I appreciated the fact that the undivided attention allowed me to enjoy the learning process. It was refreshing to be able to concentrate fully on one task. In a way, it is liberating in the sense that one is able to be notification-free albeit for only a short period of time.
Our lives are complicated and we multitask to alleviate the stress of trying to cope with its multiple demands. We get caught up trying to get as much as we can done, unknowingly leaving out other important aspects in our lives that require equal attention.
We set out to achieve success usually in our careers, forgetting the importance of family, friends and even time spent only for ourselves. Health only comes into the picture only when infirmity has already threatened to take back what we have.
We need to find a balance among all things that make up our entire life. We need to realize that to do so, we need to be mindful of the things that can affect it.
Balance is not something you just find in the midst of the intricacies of our lives. It is something we create and constantly need to monitor to achieve. :)