Attention Deficient

I am becoming an expert at multitasking and it’s scary. I used to do one thing at a time, but now I can do several.

I just watched three films while downloading music, paying bills, writing notes, researching, blogging, uploading photos from my camera, and holding a conversation with the person sitting next to me.

What’s scary is that I can do them all at once with equal proficiency, but something about being able to do it still doesn’t seem right.

The one thing I won’t do is multitask when I read blogs. I give you all my undivided attention.

There used to be a time when I did one thing at a time, I even blogged about it last year and bet my friend Tristan that I would never become a multitasker.

The definition of the word ‘never,’ means from the time you say it until the time you do it. So I try never to say never.

Multitasking has taken on a life of its own. Even when I do one thing, there is always something in the back of my head that begs to be done. I multitask in algorithm.

Algorithm is a finite sequence of well-defined steps for solving a problem. Named after al Khwarizmi, a nickname of the 9th century Persian astronomer and mathematician Abu Jafar Muhammand ibn Musa, who authored many texts on arithmetic and algebra.

What worries me is that I’m not the only multitasker. There are thousands of mulitaskers, in fact, millions. Millions of us trimming the fat of the moment, trying to stuff so much life into a millisecond. It’s a vicious cycle, the more we do, the more we lose.

Multitasking is making us pay less attention to the things we should pay attention to more. It is splitting our attention so much that we’re making ourselves attention deficient?

We are not giving enough attention to detail. The quality of time is becoming scarce. There is nothing wrong with doing your best, focusing your attention on the task at hand, taking your time and doing a magnificent job instead of just getting by. God is in the details.

What if our accountant, dentist, or doctor split their attention while they attended our affairs? We wouldn’t like it would we? Multitasking is fine for certain situations, but not when we are doing more and spending less time with the people we love.

Some drivers really have the multitasking bug. I see drivers talking on cellphones, emailing, shaving, reading the newspaper, watching TV, applying make-up, cooking a meal in the glove compartment microwave and stuffing food in their mouth. Accidents waiting to happen.

Instead of making multitasking a priority, make paying attention to your life your main priority. Pay attention to each other. Unravel each other. Talk to each other. Break ground. Go deep. Listen to each other. Have a conversation without the TV, radio, or any other distraction.

Listen to what takes place between you and the person in which you are speaking. Their is a spark in their eye. A knowingness. An appreciation. A smile in their heart. They feel you focusing on them and it makes them feel loved.

You will find that when you are not distracted, you are giving your best to the moment, to the other person, to yourself - - and that in itself is peaceful. You then translate that peace and genuine interest in everything you do.

At times, I hate being a mulitasker. At other times, I love it. Being a multitasker is not who I am or who I want to be. It causes more harm than good, more distraction than attention, more mediocrity than perfection.

Multitasking is not really me, but sometimes it can’t be avoided. Those times when I do slip into it, I wind up wondering if I could have done something, more, better or different. It causes me to think about quality.

We all deserve to cultivate quality, there is a quality of giving yourself, a quality of living, a quality of being - - a quality of now.

What’s going to happen if we keep throwing quality away? We will wind up a bunch of over stressed, over stretched, over tired, nostril-flaring, fist-pounding, teeth-grinding, half dead robot workaholics with one foot in an early grave, who have done a million things at once and still have a million things left to do.

What are you giving up to multitask? Is it really worth it?