I was standing
at my bus stop a few days ago waiting…and watching the traffic pass by. I’m
always curious as to what the various drivers might be doing as they’re wending
their way to work or wherever.
Quite a few
were yacking on their phone (I won’t go down that little alleyway!). A couple were (somehow) reading something. Then a car
rolls by.
I look at the
driver…who’s not really focused on much outside his car. Why?
'Cuz he’s
busy shaving!
Now this is
nowhere as alarming as the fellow I saw once who was brushing his teeth as he drove along. Occasionally, when I’m having
trouble sleeping, I spend a few minutes speculating on how he handled some of
the more obvious aspects of tooth-brushing…
Back to the
present…
Watching the
shaving driver, I started thinking about how we have a tendency to jam
as many tasks as possible into a finite amount of time. Some of my
undergraduate Communication students at Curry College, where I head the Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses, as well as a few at
Regis College, where I teach part-time in the graduate Organizational and Professional Communication area, are budding masters of this “art.”
And I
occasionally spend some time talking one or the other of these troops “off the
ledge” as he or she goes into a virtual stress-driven meltdown.
We hear a lot about the importance of being able to "multitask," to do a gazillion things at the same time...and do them reasonably well. Multitasking is a valuable skill, but don't get too carried away!
We hear a lot about the importance of being able to "multitask," to do a gazillion things at the same time...and do them reasonably well. Multitasking is a valuable skill, but don't get too carried away!
Although the
poet said…very wisely… “gather ye rosebuds while ye may,” he wasn’t talking
about self-induced massive overload. He was more about “enjoy life,” etc.
Enjoying life
means setting priorities and focusing on things in descending order of
importance. For example, if you have a test in a class tomorrow morning and you
haven’t read the chapters yet…read! Don’t settle in with a “cool
beverage” to watch the Red Sox go down in flames…again.
On the other
hand, don’t get lured into the “busy work” syndrome, either.
I’ve had the
dubious pleasure of knowing folks who have figured this little jewel out…Keep
something on the stove so that…in case you’re approached by a supervisor,
co-worker…teacher…you can self-righteously say “Gee, I’d like to help but…” as
you point pitifully at your desk.
The “secret”
here is to find a balance in your life where you are able to take on and
complete the tasks that you have
to do while, at the same time, you accomplish the things that you would like to do.
It’s called
“setting priorities,” and it involves some serious self-evaluation to determine
what, of all the things buzzing around you, are the most important…the things
that, if you don’t do them,
life as you’ve come to know and enjoy it is going to quickly become unpleasant.
Once you’ve
created that mental or physical list, then you turn to the “If I had more time,
I’d like to…” things.
Step 3 in
this is to actually stick with your list
recognizing, of course, that occasionally something unplanned will bubble up to
the top of the pile. But if you’ve done your homework (loving these school
analogies!), you will be able to fit the “intruder” into your schedule and
quickly recover.
And there you
have it. Take control of your life…and don’t try to shave…or brush your
teeth…while driving!
“More men are killed by overwork than
the importance of the world justifies.”
– Rudyard Kipling, “The Phantom ’Rickshaw” [1888]
I do not shave and drive as I have a beard. I do floss my teeth. My wife said the other day" Is that what you do when you drive?" I replied not the whole time I am driving...
ReplyDeleteI see may students in class still multi tasking, with teh phone. I think it is the modern doodling which we did in our notebooks.
I beleive set a goal. and accomplish that goal.
Flossing's a little worrisome, but, hey, you do what you gotta do! Thanks for your feedback, and my apologies for the delay in responding.
DeleteVery, very true, Skip, and my apologies for the delay in responding.
ReplyDelete