Multitasking is the ability to do more than one thing at a time.
It is a skill that many think is helpful to productivity and in some cases to maintaining one's sanity.
For instance, the office worker who can file, answer the phone and greet visitors all at once.
Or the parent who can talk on the phone, get juice for their children and hold the baby.
The problem is the lack of focus that can coincide with that and the feeling that you're just doing things to get them off your plate, not necessarily focusing on any one thing.
This can lead to feeling as though you get a lot done yet not necessarily done well.
One of the major examples of multitasking there is, at least to me, is driving and texting.
We all know the risks, and yet many people do it anyway.
There is a perception that it is mostly young drivers, those in high school who are doing this.
I have to say that I have seen adults doing it too.
My daughter has pointed out that it is easy to tell if a driver is texting.
If you know it's a risk, why do you do it? If you know there is a risk and sometimes a significant one, then why do you text while driving? For a few reasons.
I think there is this perception that 'it won't happen to me.
' The negative consequences of texting while driving just won't happen to me.
We think 'I'll be careful,' or 'I can do it' or some other thought that reinforces your belief that it's OK for you, even thought it turned out badly for someone else.
You can be more inclined to think that things happen to people for a reason and they will not happen to you.
I also think we have become a society where we want immediate gratification.
The faster we get a response the better.
This is true for video games, internet access, and just having to wait in a line.
Waiting for things can be challenging even frustrating.
I know I have said that I am a bad waiter.
I just don't like to do it.
I need to learn more patience and even more than that I think I need to reframe how I feel about waiting.
Rather than focus on the negative parts or the feeling that I can't have what I want right now, it is better and more encouraging to think of any waiting period as an 'incubation' period.
That you are getting ready for what is about to happen.
If nothing else it gives you time to think about the point in front of you.
I also notice that there seems to be an unwritten rule about responding to text messages in general and then responding in a timely manner as well.
This is very significant for teenagers.
I think it is true for adults as well, I know I feel it.
Sometimes it's a pressure to respond right away, even if it is a most inconvenient time.
When we're driving for one, or at bedtime, or even during an important meeting for work there will be people who drag out their phones to check their messages.
This is a thought or a perception that the messages coming in over the phone are more important than the people or project in front of you.
If that's the case, you would then be able to change that by changing your thoughts or perceptions.
Here's another reason, thinking that if we don't respond right now we'll forget.
That might be true however if it is important enough, you'll remember.
This seems to be an excuse or justification for one's actions, giving them an out for the choices they make.
In order for people to stop driving and texting, do they need to change the way they think about it? That what you are doing at this moment is more important than what's to come in the next? Does that mean that if we were all more patient, if we looked at waiting as a positive instead of a negative we would be more mindful and more effective? Could something that is delaying gratification actually help to focus more, concentrate more, to better connect with those around us? We therefore would have the power to create our lives the way we want them and not spend our time at the whim of the phone.
We would then take back our control and power, be more present and in the moment which is where our true power lies anyway.