Blog Post 85: Multi-Tasking
This recent opinion piece in the New York Times started us thinking about Type C and multi-tasking. Because of our strong aversion to letting others down, Type C people often find it hard to do one thing at a time. Our minds tell us we should be doing as much as we can for others. In addition, being hyper-productive helps us feel less worried about letting others down.
When we multi-task, we tell ourselves that with sufficient self-discipline, plus the right time management tricks, we might finally “get on top of everything” and feel good about ourselves at last. Of course this is a trap and never happens! In actuality when we multi-task, our work often suffers. When we rapidly switch our attention back and forth, this negatively affects the quality of our work. It is also mentally exhausting over time. Additionally, multi-tasking can be considered a form of avoidance - doing more helps us get away from worries about disappointing people, or not doing enough, or feelings of being lesser and needing to prove ourselves. But unfortunately, the avoidance is only temporary, there is always more to do and we can’t do it all.
I (Anna) found the MBSR course I took years ago was enlightening when it comes to multi-tasking; I wasn’t aware of how many things I was juggling at once. Learning to do one thing at a time and give it your full attention is the heart of MBSR. The book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle is similarly enlightening; the author talks at length how our egos keep us trapped in the past or worried about the future instead of keeping our attention on the present moment. I (Kore) have many patients who struggle with staying present and doing one thing at a time, keeping their minds focused on that one thing.
The challenge is to notice when we take multitasking too far - when it is taking us away from the present moment. We all do this, and it’s hard to notice it because it happens by default for any type of activity. When we slow down and notice this urge to multi-task, we realize that often we make choices that aren’t in line with our values and what matters to us in that moment.
It’s important to remind ourselves of the benefits of NOT multi-tasking - there are many! Our quality of work is better, our listening skills are better, we can work in a more relaxed state that results in more creativity and ideas. We are calmer and less anxious, which reduces cortisol and adrenaline in our bodies. We can build our delegation skills; the people in our lives can learn to do things for themselves which makes them more resourceful and more valuable contributors to whatever they are working on. We also can sharpen our memory when we are not burdening our minds with having to remember so much.
How do we stop? We first must recognize that we don’t have to stop all together, we simply must notice when we are doing it too much or at the wrong time (for example, at work, it’s common to work on something else when listening to a conference call or zoom meeting, and we miss important points). Then we can practice being more present with the task at hand and give it our full attention. This often feels boring or uncomfortable - an example here is eating a meal without doing anything else, focusing on the food only. We can sit with feeling bored or uncomfortable which benefits us in the long run, it builds tolerance for tough situations later on. This is also a key point to remember to model for children.