At Home in Georgia

Multi-tasking

09:37, Wednesday, June 14, 2006 .. 4 comments .. Link

Ok, I've been thinking about "multi-tasking".... and I've decided it's not a good thing. I was reading the other day about how at any given moment we are only dedicating about 10% of our thoughts to the task at hand. We'd be doing VERY well to make ourselves concentrate 50% of our mental effort to a task. For example, as a person is giving a presentation, he might be wondering if he has bad breath, what that guy across the table said his name was, did his wife say he had to pick up the kids after school, did he make enough hand-outs, where they're all going to eat lunch, etc., etc.

Well... the other day, I was in the car all by myself. Very rare. And I realized that I don't even know HOW to concentrate on one thing any more. I've always prided myself with my ability to multi-task. You know, I can talk on the phone with my mom, keep an eye on the macaroni cooking on the stove, supervise my 5 year old daughter's school work, change the baby's diaper, and still know that my 3 year old is in the bathroom (upstairs) eating toothpaste. Anyway, I'm so in the habit of having my mind running on a dozen different tracks that it kind of just runs on them all by itself.

So, I'm in the car... alone. I turn on the radio, because, of course, it's quiet. But while I'm listening to the radio, driving home on still somewhat unfamiliar roads, I'm thinking about that article I mentioned. I almost laughed outloud as I realized what I was doing. So THEN I got to thinking about blogging about it, because I recognize that it's HORRIBLE that I can't just simply devote all of my attention to whatever is in front of me... whether it's the road, dinner, my husband talking about his day, or my child being crazy. How much do I miss out on because I'm so busy "being super-mom" and "multi-tasking"?

How dumb... who ever came up wtih the idea of multi-tasking and then promoted it as something good? I think it's just led to stressed-out zoned-out people who don't know when to just say "NO! I can't do that, too!"

We're only half-hearing our toddler singing "Jesus Wuvs Me", only half-noticing that our quick pat on the head didn't really help our heart-broken daughter get over her friend's mean words, only slightly aware that our husband just took out the trash without being asked, only partly listening to our long-distance friend's story about her awful week, and only half-heartedly lifting our own over-taxed spirit up in prayer for strength to get through the day. I find myself wondering if we often suffer from a self-inflicted form of ADD by trying to do it all.

It's so worth it to stop what I'm doing, get down to my child's level, look in her eyes, and say "Now, tell me again... I'm listening," to shut everything else out for 5 minutes while I help my child work through a relationship problem... it only TAKES 5 minutes when I give it ALL my attention. So..... Why don't I stop to focus on the task at hand?

Because even as I realize that I'm in the habit of working on 10% brain power, I just fill up any leftover brain with something else to think about... like what I'll blog about next...

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05:24, Friday, June 16, 2006 .. Posted by Anonymous
Hey Michelle!!!!!!!!! You do great blogs young lady. I\'m glad to see things are going well for you ...hey to the family!!!!!! Karen

:-) You have just been Random Blogged :-)

09:51, Thursday, July 6, 2006 .. Posted by withajoyfulheart
Nice little blog you have here. Please keep it up! Hope you all are settling in to your new place and that you continue to follow God and homeschool your little girls. May God help you to maintain control now and train them up well while they are still young.
God bless!
Shari

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09:54, Friday, July 7, 2006 .. Posted by southofthegnatline
Hey There! I'm a fellow Georgian also! We are in Warren County just west of Augusta.

So glad you are blogging here!

Blessings,
Harriette Jacobs

Stop by the Front Porch of HomesteadBlogger.com and check out the new resources and features - let us know what you think!

Have a great weekend!
hkj

Oh My Gosh!

12:14, Friday, July 21, 2006 .. Posted by teapots66
While I was reading your blog on multi-tasking, I found myself thinking about whether my husband had gotten back home from his morning jaunt out with the kids, whether I'd get any packages in the mail today, how much longer I have to work before I can go home, whether anyone will read my blog.... You are so right! I wonder what the other parts of our brain do - do we really fill it up with so many little thoughts? Or are there parts just wilting away? - Chris

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Multi-tasking

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:-) You have just been Random Blogged :-)

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Oh My Gosh!

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