Disaster Strikes

If you’ll think back to the first installment of this post, I indulged in a little bragging about my ability to multitask, although I did acknowledge that there have been some exceptions/failures along the way. When we left off, I was in the backyard with my three tiny children attempting to watch them, dig in the garden, and chat with a neighbor all at once when I noticed that my three-year-old had vanished and my back door was open. Here’s what happened.

I dropped my shovel and dashed inside where I found that my angelic little boy had smeared the entire contents of a 1 pound tub of butter all over the kitchen floor and himself. For his coup de gras, he had grabbed a container of Parmesan cheese and sprinkled it all over the kitchen, dining, and living room floors. Apparently the butter wasn’t enough. He needed to add that finishing touch. The impressive part about the whole thing was that he had accomplished all of this in a remarkably short amount of time. That took some talent. I guess I don’t have to tell you that the backyard project was abandoned in favor of a long and messy cleanup.

My life isn’t like that anymore. I can now do one thing at a time and focus all of my attention on that particular task. The problem I’m having now is that single tasking feels so unnatural to me. I’m really having a great deal of trouble letting go of my compulsion to multitask. When I’m working on just one thing, I have to constantly fight that nagging feeling that I should be getting something else done at the same time. I know it’s not necessary, yet I can’t seem to get past it. I’m determined to adjust to completing one task and one task only before I move onto the next one, but it’s proving to be easier said than done.

I’m sure I’ll get there, and it’s just as well. Without the constant practice, I’m not much good at multitasking anymore. Last time I tried doing two things at once, I botched them both. There’s no question. I’ve lost my edge, so I’m turning over a new leaf. I’m going to make it happen. From here on out - one thing at a time.