Reflecting back in this episode, I realize how overworked I was at the time. I was a new mom with an infant baby trying to make sense of how I could be a great caregiver to my daughter, a confidant for my husband, and still achieve my goals. It took a lot of adjusting. Even to this day, I have come to realize that you can have it all but just not at the same time. Which leads me to the concept of multitasking.
How many job descriptions have we seen where multitasking is listed as a desired skill? When, people think of multitasking, they think of having the ability to manage multiple tasks at once. However, is that truly multitasking? There are some skills that simply cannot be completed at once because they are competing task. For example, if you were making breakfast, you couldn’t chop fruit and stir pancake batter at the same time; simply, because you need both hands to do each task. Hence the term, “putting on one pant leg at at time.” There are pressures from society to complete tasks as efficiently as possible but the only way to do this is by prioritizing task and completing them one at a time to the best of your ability.
“Instant gratification is the crack of the millennial.” -Deltom
The word priority prior to 1900 meant “first” making the pluralization of the word “priority” ironic. There can only be one first [1].
Taking this all into account, I realized that multitasking is assigned the same meaning as simultaneous tasking . Societal expectations for simultaneous tasking may be the reason that many people find jobs and home life stressful. If a computer can only process one task at a time, how can a human process multiple tasks at once?
This brings me back to my own experience and how I have evolved since recording this episode. First, I am a lot more realistic about my capabilities. Second, I prioritize what is most important for me to accomplish at that time and I focus on completing that task before moving forward with another. For example, although I am passionate about and dedicated to my podcast/blog, I went on a 1 month hiatus from recording or updating my blog so that I could focus on studying for my Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) exam. The reward is that I passed the exam and now I am able to provide therapeutic services independently. I experienced another minor consequence to this decision (i.e., I gained 4 lbs. because I had to sacrifice days/time allotted at the gym). Overall, I hadn’t lost anything. I took minor setbacks to actualize a goal I’ve worked toward since graduate school. I hope after listening to this episode, that people are inspired to take the pressure off of themselves and reflect on realistic ways they may actualize their dreams. -Deltom
Mentioned in this Episode:
Book – The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan:
https://www.amazon.com/ONE-Thing-Surprisingly-Extraordinary-Results/dp/1885167776
Article – The Myth of Multitasking:
https://jamesclear.com/multitasking-myth
Book – Essentialism by Greg McKeown:
https://www.amazon.com/Essentialism-Disciplined-Pursuit-Greg-McKeown/dp/0804137382