Meet Me at the Corner
A former newspaper reporter who has lived in Franklin for more than 40 years, Marjorie is active in several Franklin and Hales Corners organizations.
Google, Multi-tasking, Workshifting and Other Distractions
A few months ago I read a column by psychotherapist Philip Chard on the pitfalls of multi-tasking. (See http://www.jsonline.com/features/advice/59229057.html)
"Contrary to popular mythology, multitasking does not involve doing more than one thing simultaneously, which is extremely difficult (try reading and juggling at the same time)," Chard said. "Rather, it is the ability to fully focus on one undertaking, ignore distractions, switch smoothly to another activity at the right moment and then return to unfinished tasks in the order of their priority."
He's so right. I can see that now, as I try to move from one item to the next on my daily "To Do" list. There are always so many other things vying for my attention. If it's not the telephone or an appointment I've agreed to make, it's the dog wanting to go outside or my husband reading an interesting article in the newspaper out loud.
And then there's Google. I love Google -- remember when all we had were encyclopedias and Ready Reference? Last week I started writing a blog on New Year's Resolutions and the importance of routine so I decided to check Google and find out what else I could about routine. Ooooh! that was interesting. True, it was a distraction, but here are some of the things I learned:
Winston Churchill accomplished as much as he did because he was a master of routine. According to A.J. Leon at Workshifting.com, Churchill was also a "Workshifter." Now, this is a new term for me, so I had to follow some links (which are really just more interesting distractions) to find out more about Workshifting. Here's what I found:
"If you work out of coffee shops, hotels, airports and your home every bit as much as the office, workshifting.com is for you. We'll feature tips, reviews, and opinions about the world of Web commuting (relying on the Web to get work done at any time, from virtually anywhere.) That's what workshifting is all about." (For more information on this new field, check out www.workshifting.com.)
The Workshifters website had a number of different postings on the importance of routine. In December Workshifter Greg Rollett wrote an article about "The Workshifting Fitness Routine." (See www.workshifting.com/2009/12/-ah-the-holidays-time.html)
Oooh! That's interesting too. And it's related to the New Year's resolutions I started to write about. But I spent so much time reading about all these other interesting topics, that I never did write my blog about New Year's resolutions. That brings me back to Philip Chard. The challenge is to avoid distractions -- no matter how interesting -- and focus on priorities.
Suddenly I'm distracted by another thought, "Not all who wander are lost." Give me a minute while I check out the origin of that quotation on Google. . . .
0 COMMENTS