Do you believe you need to procrastinate less, multitask more, and stick to your to-do-list in order to be happy or successful?
Efficiency and doing more is the new national obsession, but science is telling us that it doesn’t create happiness and sure doesn’t make us more productive!
I know all about multitasking – heck, multi-tasking is my middle name! As a Registered Nurse, working in one of the busiest hospitals in the nation, it’s the only way to survive.
Yes, there are times when you don’t have a choice – Like when you have a patient who is complaining that they can’t breathe and have chest pains —> so you put them on oxygen, while at the same time checking their oxygen perfusion with a pulse oximeter, checking their pulse, and asking your tech to get you a blood pressure cuff, calling the doctor, and paging the charge nurse for assistance because you might have to call a code, and your asking the unit secretary to call in another nurse to check in on your other patient who is trying to call you for something…..well you get the picture, multi-tasking can save lives in a hospital, but it can keep you from being truly efficient and enjoying the present moment.
What I know for sure is that multitasking increases your stress levels —> aka, crazy hormone imbalances.
I recently read an article written by Emma Seppala, phD, who wrote about this very subject. Seppala stated that human beings are “either multi-tasking or their minds are engaged in thoughts of the past or future.” So when do we actually fully show up for our lives, with 100% to one single person or activity, let alone ourselves?
“Research shows that mutlitasking – by splitting our attention – harms our ability to remember things and to concentrate”. So you’re basically not doing a very good job on any task.
When you are fully present on the other hand, you can attain what the yogi’s call bliss. That’s right, these same researchers who told us that multitasking can harm our ability to remember or do tasks well, are the same ones who found that we are happiest when our mind is not wandering and when we’re NOT multitasking.
The ultimate bonus though, is that when you’re fully present in whatever you are doing, or when you show up fully (this means 100%) to yourself or others, you actually become more efficient.
This year, I am on a mission to show up fully. Some things will have to stay undone; some activities will have to wait; and I might not be able to show up for everyone. But when I do show up, my intention is to be there 100%.
I’m ready to feel ease and get into my flow… how about you?
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