Can two things that seem to function in opposite directions co-exist? This is the only proper way to ask the question of how one can practice mindfulness while being an ardent multitasker. The wreckage of the last 30 years of my life suggests that the answer is a clearly defined ‘Hell no’
Let’s at first dispense with the comic ease of pointing out that I put clearly defined next to a phrase in quotes which, while it should not be used grammatically hardly ever, can be used to indicate a questionable level of clarity of the appointed word or phrase. So, yeah. I get it.
Now that the clowning is out of the way I can say this very clearly: I have failed at multi-tasking over the course of the last 30 years and I don’t feel like I can afford to try it for 30 more years and expect a modicum of success. I can be good at compartmentalization when I allow myself to be, but straight up two plus things at once is a losing strategy.
Mindfulness is important. Staying locked in on a goal or task allows you to put in maximum effort and energy and even see things in a different way than if your attention was split elsewhere. I’ve spent a great deal of my professional life with my attention split elsewhere. It is only when I’ve locked in on a single goal or task that I was able to experience success. My best writing comes when I sit at my desk (or on the floor) for a few hours dreaming around the story and the story world. I have to become immersed in order to recognize and reveal the minutiae that takes a story from meh to money.
Catchy wordplay aside, I know and have known for some time now that I am not good at multitasking. Lately I’ve been shifting back towards compartmentalizing my life. I am making an effort not to talk or think about youth sports outside of a 3 day period (it was a solid 5 when the middle school stuff was monday/wednesday). I’m rediscovering the lost switch to turn it on and off. I need that switch back, because I cannot do that and be a writer and be a teacher all at the same time. I wind up losing a chunk of the mental energy to pure confusion and as a result the rest of my life is severely impacted. It hurts relationships. it hurts my ability to parent.
Back to the drawing board then (cliche but effective). I’m writing up a schedule that allows me to be in the headspace I need to be in when I need to be there and learning how to install mental transitions that move me away from the things I ought not to be thinking about and queue them back when their time approaches.
Maybe I’ll write a book about it once I work it out.