Multitasking….Productive or Disruptive?

Project Matrix

Where’s that post it?

I see an available spot on that desk!

Double screens a definite multitasker sign.

Here I sit writing to you in the middle of a multitasking week from Hell.  Not to long ago I took great pride in my skills as a ‘multi-tasker’.  In fact I used to refer to  myself as the quintessential “Queen of Multitasking”.  Those days are over!  I don’t think anyone is a good multi-tasker.

Funny thing is I’m not alone in my conclusions.  Earl Miller, a Picower professor of neuroscience at MIT, says……..

………”People can’t multitask very well, and when people say they can, they’re deluding themselves,” and “The brain is very good at deluding itself.”[i]

Science will always set you free!!!  According to Earl if we  pride ourselves on our multitasking skills  we are “delusional”.

Queen of Multi-Tasking…..NOT

 Earl goes on to explain,  “Our minds are incapable of “doing” two things at once”.

Seems to me what some of us are proficient at is stop & switch.  This stop & switch action creates the illusion of multitasking which scientists refer to as “delusion”.

Ironically Earl and I are not related…..at least not to my knowledge.  But once I read the above quotes about multi-tasking research our kinship of mind was solidified.

Earl Miller, Professor of Neuroscience

Earl Miller, Neuroscientist

Gina Miller, aka Happy Homemaker

Gina Miller, aka Multi-tasker

In order to perfect the ole stop & switch you have to be SUPER organized, know your limits and be capable of delegating.   IME (in my experience) the majority of self proclaimed multi-taskers are also micro-managers.

Now introduce a micro-managing-self proclaimed multi-tasking wizard-egomaniac type  into  the mix and sit back and watch the proverbial manure hit the fan.   Welcome to my aforementioned  work week from Hell .

Especially if the said MMSPMTWE type ^ is not organized and thinks he/she is capable of doing everything better than everyone else on the team or planet and finds it necessary to blow up your VM, text messages and emails with all their nit picking edits and suggestions!

Aaaah, I feel better now.  

Lucky for me I’m super organized which allows me to “Stop & Switch” rather quickly.  Those who know me can attest to how often they hear me say, “Wait one minute please I can only work on one thing at a time”.

And if I’m in the  “creative zone” you may not even receive an acknowledgement that I heard you, because my brain shuts down the outside world  to allow me to focus on the task at hand.

Great news…..I am normal.  Neuroscience backs this phenomena up with MRI scans of the brain taken while subjects switch from one task to another.[i]

So the answer for me is clear…multitasking is DISRUPTIVE!  

What do you think?

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[i]Reference to Earl Miller quote

Treeless Christmas

“What?  No Christmas tree?  Really?”, coupled with the look of horror and sympathy was the common response after revealing my skipping of the Christmas tree.  Yes I chose to skip dragging the tree up from the basement storage, the tangle and wrangling of lights, the moving of furniture, the hoisting down of totes full of decorations from storage, the ironing of the tree skirt, fussing with the angel tree topper and searching for the hooks to hang mismatched bulbs. All these holiday delights not to be included on my Christmas list.  Hard to believe right?

I have to tell you it was a surprise to me as well.  Now it’s not because I dislike Christmas,  au contraire I absolutely love the holidays.  Last year Christmas just kind of snuck up on me. My son was going to visit his in-laws in Michigan, my daughter planned her visit weeks earlier to avoid the Christmas travel and my step sons weren’t coming home from NC with our grand kids.  So why go to all the trouble just for me and my husband Terry and our two Yorkies?

We really did not miss the Christmas tree. Seriously, I felt like a huge weight of obligation was removed from my shoulders.  The whole experience was quite liberating actually. Oh I pulled out my Christmas table runners and filled a trifle glass dish with glittery bulbs and set the nativity scene up and hung my Christmas cards as they arrived.  I’m not a total Scrooge!  Honestly I did not miss the Christmas tree but a I felt guilty for not missing it.

Christmas clean up was a breeze.  Lickity split Christmas 2012 was packed away in 10 minutes.  No tinsel or pine needles to vacuum up for months after either.    The only difference not having a Christmas made was I had one less thing to do at the holidays.  For this I was thankful.

Fast-forward Christmas 2013.

I had no intention of putting up a Christmas tree.  Last year was so enjoyable without the added clutter and work I wanted a repeat. While embracing a less work for Gina attitude, low and behold the season became even easier.  This year my son and his wife invited us to spend Christmas Eve at their house, breaking from the 25 year tradition of celebrating Christmas Eve at our house.

My son was worried I’d be upset at the change in tradition.  Without a moment of hesitation I accepted and volunteered to bring a green salad. The thought of spending the day with our precious 9 month old granddaughter was the best Christmas gift I could ask for.

I’m still reeling from my Christmas break. No tree, no mad rush to prepare for guests, no big dinner, no cookies to bake, no table to set and no dishes to wash. All I had to do was show up and enjoy my granddaughter, Kendall.

Then the epiphany hit me.  This is how my mother in law, Norma must of felt when I asked permission to hold my first family Thanksgiving meal back in 1980.  Norma’s smile and laughter was the highlight of my day that year.  Remembering how her normal holiday look of exhaustion was transformed to joy and relief as I stepped into her shoes and accepted the Thanksgiving Day baton of hostess is a priceless memory.

I was feeling the same relief Norma felt 30 years ago.  I finally gave myself permission to stop the “perfect picture” of Christmas etched in my mind. Deciding to give up all the expectations and the anxiety of a “Picture Perfect Christmas” along with the regret the day after wondering if I had done enough was a gift.  Instead I experienced a truly joyous holiday.

The joy of watching my son and his new wife and daughter hold their first Christmas dinner.  The pride I felt is inexplicable. My son Mark is a fabulous host and his wife Rose prepared a fabulous meal.   The table was impeccably set and their home was beautiful. In the corner was a 2 foot potted evergreen with a single ornament, a commemoration of Kendall’s first Christmas.  And of course Kendall was the star of my picture perfect day.

What will 2014 bring?  No one knows but whatever it is I am certain there will be joy.