I have been studying multi-tasking because I am a “Get everything done now!” kind of girl and it’s not working for me anymore. It seems like my brain needs more RAM, but that’s not possible. Is there a better way?
I started at the beginning, wondering what made me this way? What gave me this belief? The world we live in today makes us believe that it is good to have a seriously over-scheduled and busy life to feel productive. I thought I was multi-tasking to get everything in. When I studied how the brain works, I found out it really isn’t possible to be thinking of two things at once anyway- your brain has to move from one thought to another. So I thought I was multi-tasking…
But was I?
I felt like I was getting most everything done, but only part way. And nothing was fulfilling anymore. I was giving my kids half of my attention when I am with them, I was thinking of something else while I was at work, burning dinner because my mind was somewhere else and trying to get to sleep every night was a nightmare!
JUST STOP! That’s what I decided to do.
Was that easy- NO WAY! I have created habits my whole life to always keep going. But the past few years when I have delved into personal development and am learning from many books and meditation to be present. AH, it’s so hard sometimes. But practice makes it work better. I have been meditating for 18 years with yoga, but have tried to do it by itself each day. Nope, I’m not always good at remembering, but I’m trying more and more to make it a habit. And why? Because it works- meditation helps my life to feel like it has slowed down. I can look at each thing in life by itself and not a jumbled mess. I know it’s working because when I stress, I realize that I start breathing slowly. I start counting in my head to 10 very slowly and methodically. This didn’t happen before because I wasn’t even aware I could.
The book PEAK by Anders Ericson talks about being deliberate. It really hit me! I decided this was my word for the 2017 year. I would be deliberate in each thing- which meant when I was doing something- my whole head and heart was in it. I noticed at work I didn’t make as many mistakes and when I did, I realized I wasn’t all “there”. When my kids were talking to me, I put the phone down or turned the radio down. When I was cooking, I was cooking, and wow- I didn’t burn as much stuff! It really took effort though- I had to train my brain to create this new habit and slow down and when I am doing something I am thinking about what I am doing. Try it, you’ll like it.
Why I don’t multi-task? It’s not even scientifically possible and if I try to fit a bunch of stuff in all at once it fails. But there’s awesome news–Your brain really can re-learn how to process no matter what your age! Stop trying to Multi-task and instead be deliberate. I’m working on this each and every day and I see the progress which makes me HAPPIER!
