I am my best when I work on one thing at a time, period.

However, in today’s world everyone is forced into multi-tasking. The Digital Age has transformed daily activities in such a way, that I struggle to remember how I felt and what life was like before I had a smart phone invisibly chained to my body. It’s not just phones, it’s social media platforms, email, It’s the numerous forms of entertainment. It’s all the appliances in our homes, and now, even our homes. Everything is vying for our attention, constantly. As a matter of fact, I am doing everything in my power to not look at my phone right now as I hear the little notification tone as some text messages are arriving. (Incredible timing… and I know it’s a group message from my family because there have been several in a row.) But I am not looking at it now, because I know if it was an emergency, someone would’ve called me, not sent a text.

            I am choosing to push back on modern technology, a little bit anyway. I am being honest with myself, and frankly, I don’t like multi-tasking so much. It’s one thing, when I’m home, preparing dinner, and I have 30 minutes to go do something else but even then, sometimes it’s a good feeling to just sit down, zone out in the kitchen and do nothing at all while that meal is cooking. When was the last time you did that? It seems now that our instinct has shifted to direct us to go do something else…and not to waste time, because there aren’t enough hours in the day! Go GO GO!

How did our parents manage? What did Mom do without her social media platform to check in and see what her cousin in Queens had for lunch?

I do remember, when I was a kid, that my Mom might have spent a lot of time taking care of the house and cooking, but she always had time to sit at the table with us and talk for a few and wasn’t looking at the clock or over my shoulder or lost in distraction thinking about the next thing she had to do. Do we even do that anymore? Maybe sometimes, but most of the time, the first thing many people do at mealtime is set their phone down, right next to them and scroll though it every 30 seconds or so. I’ve been guilty of it too, but when I realize what I just did, I try to just slip it back into my pocket. Although, I have to say, that the phones are so damn big, it’s uncomfortable to sit down with them in your pants pocket anymore.

At our jobs multi-tasking is nearly a requirement and referenced at every interview. It is inevitable that someone will ask about your ability to multitask. And we all feel obligated to say “it is one of my strengths” and “I thrive on it”. You thrive on it? I doubt it, and that is my experience talking. In my current job, I am expected to know a little about everything. I am a technical overlay to the sales team at a large communications company and we have so many products, services and solutions in our portfolio that it is impossible for one person to have a good understanding of all of them. We are forced into an environment of multi-tasking just to try and stay current. You know what I see more often than not? People making mistakes. People highly stressed, people truly not enjoying their jobs…all because of the pressure to multi-task every moment of every day.

You may feel the same as I do. The impact technology has had on the way we do things, and the way we are expected to do things had me spending most of my days in constant stress. That is why I am making a move toward single tasking at work and at home. In just a few weeks, I am starting to see a difference. Here are a few things I have begun to do.

I determined the most critical components of my job. Then I prioritized them, and I have begun to dedicate the appropriate amount of time to each. For example:

1 I need to be up to date on all the services and products my company offers.

2 I need to share that info with my customers

3 I need to help close sales.

It is apparent that I need to spend a good deal of time reading, taking training courses and then preparing and practicing ways to deliver the message. Everything else after that is a distraction. Urgent issues do come up, but if urgent things are the norm, then there is a different issue to address.

At the same time as I acknowledge my priorities, I must eliminate the distractions that force me to multitask. The biggest distraction to my day is email. I get anywhere from 100 to 250 emails daily. Sometimes, and this is no joke, 40 or more from one person. If I keep my inbox open all day and respond to every single email as it comes in, I would not get anything else done. What is an email anyway? An email that comes to you is usually someone else’s problem. It is someone else asking you to do something for them. Granted, it is part of job as an overlay to offer the needed technical support, but the vast majority of emails I get is because someone else is being lazy and it was easier for them to send me an email then it was for them to handle the situation directly. I have learned, that if it is truly urgent, they call me on my cell phone.

# 1 Shut down the inbox and put up an out of office note that says your response will be delayed. I usually add, that if it is urgent, text me. I do this while I am working on my top priorities.

Next interruption is unwanted phone calls. This is simple:

#2 If I don’t recognize a phone number or wasn’t expecting a call, then it goes straight to voice mail, and I check it later.

Another one at my company is a barrage of unnecessary internal meetings. Most of these meetings could be handled by a brief phone call, or through chat. Most people join the call and end up going through their email and doing other things anyway. I can’t stop people from organizing meetings, so I often accept meetings tentatively and only jump on if I have my own personal projects up to date.

#3 Don’t attend or arrange unnecessary internal calls that could be solved by a single call or internal chat.

Lastly, at work it is easy to get distracted by social media. You might think that you are just going to “take a peek” and catch the news, but who’s kidding who? It doesn’t take long before you are scrolling away, watching the cute puppy, or your friends’ kids’ gymnastics tryout and the time flies by quicker than you realize.

#4 Restrict or limit personal social media use. Trust me, it will all still be there waiting for you later that day.

My most successful days are the ones where I focus on one thing at a time.

 I apply this same approach at home as well. My kids are grown, but my relationships with them are a top priority. Phone calls or messages from them get my attention. Staying healthy as the years go by is also a top priority. I don’t let anything interfere with exercise and going to the gym. Currently, putting together this blog for my enjoyment has been a high priority so I am building in the right amount of time to writing and having fun with this. I do enjoy unwinding with a book or watching television, so I build that in as well, and I have begun to drastically limit my social media time to a reasonable 15 or 20 minutes a day.

By acknowledging and understanding my priorities each day, I can turn off the minor distractions which end up not having the sense of urgency that I was led to believe they had. Social media and its emphasis on the fear of missing out (Buzzword: FOMO) can really have an impact on how we act each day, and what we accomplish.

By the way, I made it through this entire entry without looking at my phone 😊