Go Deep

Multitasking. We all do it every day. Driving, eating and listening to the radio. Talking with your loved ones and checking your phone. Writing your weekly blog and watching the NBA playoffs. . . We live in a world where technology makes multitasking a way of life. How many times do you find yourself with ten or more tabs open on your Internet browser? Me? All the time. Am I really working on all of those at the same time? No way. Am I jumping around from one thing to the next, not really getting anything done? Usually.

There are numerous advantages to having so many options in our daily life. We have nearly unlimited information available instantly. I can check social media, read the news and manage my fantasy football team all in the same place. Text, email and even face to face chatting exponentially increase our ability to stay in touch with people far and wide.

But at what cost? Are we sacrificing depth of learning and experience for volume and instant access? We would drive better if we stopped eating and messing with our phones. We would learn more if we weren't constantly switching between media. We would develop and maintain deeper, better relationships with our friends and family members if we took time to have conversations instead of relying on tweets and facebook status updates. Our time does not need to be constantly filled with new information. Sometimes it is best to cut off the fire hose of new data and go deeper into the info we already possess.

Here are a few of the ways I try to control myself when it comes to multitasking:

• Silent drive - Instead of pumping the jams or listening to talk radio or talking on the phone while you drive to work, try driving in silence. I do some of my best thinking when it is quiet. Also, it helps curb road rage.
• Turn off Tones - Unless you are waiting for some very important phone call, turn off any alerts or ring tones. Don't be a slave to technology. If you find yourself on your device with no idea why, you are doing it wrong.
• Read - I found that the more I accessed fast sources of media, the less willing I was to sit down and read something longer than a few pages. So now I make an effort to actually read books and articles with more depth than a tweet.

There is a time and place for multitasking. It's a valuable skill. But so is the ability to focus on one specific task and do it well. Take time and go deep once in a while.

Jack

PS - Here is the article that inspired today's topic:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/brain--interrupted-173621758.html