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Writer's pictureRadina Walsh

The Pitfalls of Multitasking (true story)

I have always been proud of one skill that I used to perceive as a strength - multitasking. But let me tell you my story and will leave the conclusions to you...


Multitasking

Being part of Generation Y (aka the Millennials), I was one of the first kids to have a personal mobile phone at the age of 10 (it was called Benefon back then), had a dial-up internet at home at the age of 12 and witnessed the "birth" of ICQ, Myspace, Facebook when I was a teenager. I can openly say that we were privileged to have the best of both worlds - spending our childhood on the playground outside with friends and playing video games/chatting on the PC when everything started to become less off and more on-line...




10 Facts about Millennials
10 "Must-know" Facts about Millennials

Growing in the 2000s is pretty dynamic experience, for me it was even more since my country was in a hectic situation after the changes in 1989. Every new thing makes you curioser and curioser - you want more, you look for alternative ways of interacting (texts/sms, songs on youtube, chat rooms), you now have open access to everything on the net and have to even teach your mom how to use Skype!


All of a sudden you feel this pressure of keeping up to speed with all the technology, because everyone is talking about it - phones with touch screen, electric cars, start ups, online payment, etc. We all know that school doesn't really prepare you for the real life, especially when the whole world is going through a tech revolution - most of the time the education we get is based on history, rarely on progress. Thus it's us who need to embrace the changes and open our mind to a different tuning.


My way of coping has always been to do loads of things simultaneously - I used to swim professionally for a while, loved sports and sang in a choir, wrote poetry, studied several languages and have worked & studied full-time since I was 15. My parents had full trust in me and never stopped me when I wanted to do something new - even when I discovered my passion for tattoos (sorry mom, I know you don't like this topic). The need for variety at work and life in general became so strong that, at some point, I lost my own focus. I was starting different projects on the spur of the moment and then - left them unfinished for another "challenge".


I felt I wasn't happy if I'm not handling 3-4 tasks at the same time (now this is x10 as I am a working mom), I thought I'm not learning enough and pushing myself out of the comfort zone. Furthermore I firmly believed that this is efficiency because I was dealing with huge volumes, was a top performer in terms of quantity and quality (an interesting article about ADD as benefit for the performance); I was convinced this is the path to perfection... It became difficult to concentrate on one thing and be present - didn't know how to stop and enjoy the good moments - grown ups could also experience ADHD to certain extend but it's easy not to pay attention and ignore the signs. Slowly my anxiety and stress levels became evident for me and the closest people around me - heart palpitation, mood swings (not the usual woman mood swings trust me), GERD. I had a conversation with one of my managers some time ago and I still remember her words of wisdom - exhausting yourself doesn't bring you closer to perfection, you need to find the balance of doing too much and doing the right amount of stuff to be happy.


The myth of multitasking was uncovered - there is a thin line between multitasking and "megatasking" and you will pay a price if you don't understand the difference. I rediscovered how much sport helps you, started regular yoga and meditation exercises, switch off my wi-fi at night time, do small things to be mindful - it is a learning curve. I'm sure that at this stage you have heard the word MINDFULNESS a zillion times, so you can substitute it with: presence, simplicity, awareness - choose whatever works for you and maybe give it a try once or twice. Might not be your thing, each person has preferences, but it's there for you when/if you need it. Next time when you start 5 super interesting projects - PAUSE! Count to 5 or use the Stop-Breathe-Be (or perhaps just follow Dr. Aditi Nerurkar) in and then look at the bigger picture - is this the right thing for you right now? #focus



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