The Scene:
You’re cooking dinner while answering your child’s questions about homework, adding to the grocery list, keeping an eye on the clock because soccer practice starts soon, and thinking about what to pack for tomorrow’s lunches. At best you’re tense, but complete all of the activities before flying out the door. At worst you ruin dinner, ignore your child, forget about the list and lunches, and are late out the door. Sound familiar? Your scenario likely includes a dog, someone in your house working shifts, and a long list of plans for a magical time called Someday.
There’s great debate out there about the pros and cons of multitasking. Whether humans are wired for it, whether what we’re doing is fairly termed multitasking or task switching, one thing is for sure: we can’t avoid it. Our lives are jammed, work is highly competitive, and we are impatient, too. Multitasking is no longer an “if” but a “how”. There’s a healthy – or at least manageable – way to multitask, and there’s the way guaranteed to lead to burn out.
Is your multitasking strategy helping you live your best life? Ask yourself these questions:
Does your multitasking produce quality results?
Is the effort you’re putting into multitasking worth the finished product? Could you achieve better results of if you focused on that single task? At some point you’ve got to critically decide whether “good enough” is really good enough. And if it’s not, you’ve got to cut something out of your multitask list.
Is multitasking necessary?
Quite often the reason we multitask is due to impatience, whether from the client, the kids, the boss, or ourselves. If you would answer emails more efficiently by focusing on that task for 15 minutes instead of throughout the day, set time aside just for that. Determine whether you truly accomplish more or save time by working on multiple items at once. You may be surprised by how quickly you complete a task by working solely on that.
What do you sacrifice if you do or don’t multitask?
If you stop at the grocery store on the way home from work, but you left your list at home, you’re likely to forget something. And you’re hungry, so you’re likely to overspend. Before spontaneously multitasking, be sure it’s not going to cost you somewhere else.
Successful life is about balance.
You can manage chaos effectively – you can even thrive on it – so long as there is balance. A hectic work schedule lends itself to quiet time at home. When work projects are overwhelming, rearrange your priorities and delegate tasks better suited to coworkers. Learn to say no!
Adopting various forms of mindfulness and meditation into your daily routine is a good way to help you slow your thoughts down and properly evaluate and adjust your multitasking strategy. Maybe dinner is a takeout tonight so you can sit with your kids and help with homework, then take the dog for a short walk before soccer practice. And in the morning, everyone can help make lunches.
Treat yourself to a Mandalas4You workshop and learn more about the benefits of focus, balance, and artistic expression! Contact Us to book.