How Not to Start a Productive Day

Two multitasking failures in one morning show multitasking isn’t as helpful as some claim

If you want to multitask, be sure you’re fully wake first

The alarm woke me abruptly. I didn’t feel totally awake when I staggered to the kitchen for a cup of tea. I had planned to take it into my office and check my email, but I also knew I needed to take a medication in a few minutes. So I decided to make a piece of raisin toast with peanut butter to drink with my tea. And that’s when everything started downhill.

The weather has been hotter than normal. The refrigerator is crowded. So there wasn’t enough room to put the half loaf of preservative-free sprouted wheat raisin bread inside when I took it out of the freezer a few days ago. As I reached for a slice of bread to toast, I noticed most slices in the bag had green edges.

So much for my original plan! I trimmed the green edges off the best slices, put the worst in the to-be-composted-container, and put what remained in the freezer, in case I decide to make bread pudding someday. Two trimmed slices were now too small to go into the toaster and extract easily, but they fit a slice of jack cheese perfectly. So I decided on grilled cheese for breakfast. I buttered the outside of the slices lightly and tucked the cheese in between them. I hadn’t taken into account how dry the bread had become when I put the sandwich in a skillet on the stove to brown.

Why not multitask, I thought. I had to walk back to the bedroom to eat a few nuts and a couple of grapes, so I could take my pill. (Normally I keep these things in the bedroom so I don’t have to come out to face the day until I’m ready.) I figured I’d be back just as the sandwich was ready to turn. I figured wrong. There is a difference between a grilled and a charcoaled cheese sandwich! My multitasking had failed me.

When I took my blackened sandwich and tea back to the computer to eat while I checked my email, I was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. I scheduled some tweets for the weekend.

Second multitasking failure of the morning

About the time I finished eating, Hubby stuck his head in and nagged me a bit about washing his underwear. I’d been planning to do it later today, but knew I might get distracted by writing and forget. He had already spot-treated it. I figured I could fill the washer with water while I scheduled a few more tweets. I would put the clothes in after it filled. I was sure I had left the lid up so the water would turn off after the tub was full. Back at the computer, I went for a few minutes.

About this time Hubby came in again and wanted the checkbook to pay a deposit for solar panels to be installed at another property. He had to leave to meet the rep soon, and I needed to balance the checkbook first so he wouldn’t write a check for too much. We are waiting for new checks to arrive for his checkbook. (Why we have separate checkbooks is a story for another day.)

I stopped to balance the checkbook and schedule any other major payments I make online. I had to be sure there was enough in the account to cover everything. Then I gave the checkbook back to my husband so he could leave when he needed to.

Back at my desk, I heard the washing machine noise stop. I put the clothes in the dryer before I got started writing. Another fail! Somehow the machine lid had gotten shut and the entire cycle had finished before the clothes were inside. I had to start over while chastising myself over the waste of soap and water. This time I made sure the lid was up, and I stayed near until I had the clothes inside.

Multitasking is controversial

Multitasking reduces your efficiency and performance because your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. When you try to do two things at once, your brain lacks the capacity to perform both tasks successfully. Dr. Travis Bradberry, TalentSmartEQ

I’d say my morning is a great example of that statement’s truth. At 78, I’m finding multitasking harder than ever before in my life. Scanning my phone while half listening to a TV program I don’t care about is one thing. Burning my breakfast and wasting a machine full of laundry water is quite another.

My brain obviously could not efficiently handle two tasks at once this morning. Perhaps I’m fooling myself to think it ever can.

What I learned

I can’t always help being interrupted while performing an important task. But I can learn to plan my day so that I can do essential things one at a time instead of trying to do two at once. In the long run, I believe that will make me more productive.

Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste. ~ Benjamin Franklin

That certainly proved true this morning.

How successful are you at multitasking?