One or Many at a time – Multitasking Myth!

 

Well, I am busy typing an email and then a whatsapp ping comes, so I go to check that, meanwhile a phone call comes, so I pick that, simultaneously, someone comes to meet me, so I go to greet, then the mobile rings, so I pick that.

I know there are so many like me who end up doing this on a daily basis. And there will be so many who asks, why not? I am not trying to say which way is better, that is handling one task a time or handling many at a time. What I intend to convey here, is the fact of being “productive” while all are being done, the “one” task or the “multiple” tasks, what should be thought through is how productive are we? It is very important to understand this as the time taken to do many things at one though might be very less, what gets neglected is the fact of how well are we doing these multiple things, are we just blindly performing it or are we actually applying some thoughts to it.

The answer is definitely a No, our brain is actually loaded with multiple instructions all going on in parallel. Yes, multitasking cannot be totally avoided in today’s fast and advanced technology life. While the benefits are manifold that we get access to information or people faster, no denial there but the truth is productivity gets lost. Instead of always being in a hurry, if we can spend sometime and not load our brains to achieve all at once to actually achieve perfection might fetch bountiful results, as you are more focused and more present than being lost in multiple things. We can try and see how much difference this brings and also see for a fact, how productive we are and how much more confident we are as we are right here doing only that. We need to also give our brains some rest for some sharp and focused thinking. Even while attending meetings, I think it is essential to pay more attention to the discussions and not miss out on anything important, especially avoid the tendency to check our phones or being busy making the meeting notes while missing the essence of the talking points. Thinking and doing is better than just to keep doing.  So let me ask you, which is better, Focus Vs Multitasking and what will you be your choice?

 

Avoid the “ME”

Emotion is a big rollercoaster ride, the more emotions we attach to any particular thing object, people or any aspects of our life, the more miserable we may feel when one day we have to disconnect from it. Yes, at times, we need to understand the mechanism of being a mere switch in our lives. “On” the attach button for things you really need and “off” the detach button for those you don’t. Avoid being EMOTIONAL, it will just back fire you. Trash the unwanted emotions or attachment on a daily basis like you would probably empty the garbage bin. Firstly, why are we getting so attached? It is but natural to feel this way, I am unable to still figure out how and why we get attached, but I know how not to get attached, I may sound negative but these small negativities are allowed as it will bring more positivity in your life. Rule number 1 is, to LET GO! Yes, practice the habit of letting it go when things don’t turn your way. No point stressing over a fact or a thing that has only caused disappointments, unhappiness. Follow the principle of “No Strings attached” in circumstances and you will begin to see changes which are good. It is not very easy as it may sound, it is only the more you practice this fact of avoiding emotions and facing the situation with much more courage.

To make you understand this better, let me correlate this to one of my experiences where I could have applied “No strings attached principle”. I was in a very good relationship with my friend where both of us took each other for granted, what happened because of this, she and I were thick of friends but in a mere chat or sms or group chats, it felt as though each one of us were not supportive of each other views in a common matter, it lead to misunderstanding and when explained, it did not seem important to my friend that our relationship was good all this while but just a trivial issue such as this has led to us not being in touch. Very juvenile, I agree, but these are the common things everyone faces. MISUNDERSTANDING in a communication, blame the technology that we forget to pick the phone and explain. But still, the point I am trying to drive here is that, misunderstanding can occur but how much of it affects you personally is what you need to gauge. If you apply a “No String attached” attitude here, perhaps even we could have stayed away from explaining ourselves and make it more ugly rather than make it more silly and fun. If we had cut off the emotions of “We used to be so close before” etc to “Hey, don’t take that personal”, would have been unintentional. If it really mattered, it would have been solved easily, it was not meant to be, so let it be J.

To simply put it, avoid ME to be a better YOU.         

Confidence Factor - The Importance of it!

Is confidence a big ingredient for success, yes definitely! It’s as important as “Salt to taste” in any recipe. This is not something that can be taught, seen or adopted overnight. This has to come from within. Why are some good at it and why are some not? But it is not difficult to gain confidence. How does it work? Maybe these thoughts will help. It is just plain thinking.

I find myself go back to cocoon in most areas while I super excel in some. The reason is lack of confidence in areas where I don’t know the subject well; the term is “Fear of Rejection”. But the more number of times you attempt at saying what you think “makes more sense” or speak confidently; soon the Fear of Rejection will turn to Acceptance firstly in your mind and later to actually letting it out.

It’s only when we suppress our confidence in most areas where we think, we are good but only for the fact what if “I get rejected” comes to your mind, we feel disappointed.  Confidence need not only be related to our career, it can be in every avenue of our lives. It’s only the fear of what others will think of you if you say something wrong, that prevents you from saying what you want. To me, confidence is plainly putting what you think is right and how you think you can achieve a task boldly. First step is to trust yourself and nobody in this trip to become successful. If you are confident about yourself, this will come automatically. It is like a muscle, the more you use it, the more it gets stronger. The more number of times you actually face hard criticism is when you learn it better. So it’s okay even if you have to face hard times initially, these learning’s will only help you promote yourself better. Face it, if you know it; don’t hesitate to speak out as you know you have it in you! If we fail one or two times, it is okay, we should be glad we made a beginning somewhere.  Confidence leads to happiness and these are two things which can make or break things!

SLEEP and REST can work wonders to one’s efficiency!

“Burning the midnight oil” is a famous idiom which is so relevant with each one of us gearing up for the Race to “Survival of the fittest”. In this bargain, we forget to have quality sleep. Why am I talking about something so fundamental? I agree all of us know how crucial it is, but  the sleep is often neglected, and lack of it can take a toll on our body completely.

We all are humans and not machines and hence REST is essential. These days everyone is so busy checking their phones, laptops all through the night and even do that first thing after waking up just to ensure they haven’t missed out on any important mails. Sometimes PAUSE button works. PAUSE IT, MUTE IT, and GET OFF IT atleast during the hours you need to rest. As a mother, the first year of bringing up my child, I know I had no room for rest or sleep. Typically waking up all through the night or rather even the hours I slept, I would be subconsciously awake asking myself, “what if” I miss my child’s cry. I think we mothers are all made that way.

That’s when I realized how important it is for one to rest and get the perfect beauty sleep. 8 hours or not, the hours we sleep should be good without any disturbances. Half the battle is won if we condition our body to regular patterns of sleep, eating habits; exercise and engaging in work all being channeled at one time every day. TOUGH! Or I’m pretty sure we can’t achieve it without any hindrances. But atleast we try to make it work 3 days out of 7, we have made a beginning! Dedicate time to rest, sleep. Once you follow a pattern of sleeping and resting during the nights, it will definitely show in your mood, set you on a positive note to begin the day. You don’t want to see a child cranky similarly; we don’t have to see ourselves also equally cranky without a proper sleep. There is a co relation between good hours of sleep leading to greater efficiency and productivity. Give your brains some rest so that it gives you more results.

Give in more.

It is very easy to say that a relationship has to be going two ways! There are no two ways about it. It’s always your way or my way or sometimes the high way. Just kidding! No, I am not going to repeat what has been said number of times or what is always being perceived. I believe in the fact of giving in more, well, if I begin to think that a relationship can be going absolutely peaceful only if the giver/receiver is at complete symphony. I am wrong, how many times have that been possible, sometimes the more you only expect and not get what you really expect, then it’s going to be a cacophony. Why do we always let our EGOS come in between any relationships we share? It’s just human tendency I guess, you don’t have to agree with me, but the fact is EGOS destroy relationships. Yes, I have seen many relationships that I would have lost perhaps due to my own ego. Some learning’s have been at an early start of my life.

That’s when I decided, that I can’t change the way people think but I could change the way I think so when I applied this formula in all the relationships I have, it worked wonders, not that it changed the situation, everything remained the same but the only difference was I learned to give in more without expecting anything in return and what did I gain in return, happiness and not disappointments, sometimes you have to let it go and only give in more. The thought of just altering the mind from expecting to give itself will fetch a lot of fruitful results. So I will let you guys ponder on this while I get ready to give in more J…