Some people brag about being able to multi-task. They go on and on (and on) about how great they can maneuver a car down a seemingly-familiar road while answering a potential employer’s interview questions. Or they (accidentally) share how they can carry on a personal conversation with a good friend while simultaneously opening and reading email on their computer. Some say they can read a book while exercising. Or they can cook while watching a movie. The list goes on.
People who are proud of themselves for multi-tasking are more of a liability than an asset – to both a friendship and to a corporation. Let’s face it, you can only do one thing well by doing one thing at a time. Period. If you are going to be “in the moment” and 100% focused and concentrated on what you are choosing to give your energy and attention to – then it is not possible to also be engaged in some other activity.
Let’s not confuse multi-tasking with being able to handle a blitzkrieg of disparate projects at once. It’s not the same thing. People who have a lot of different things to do or activities to complete will get them done – one at a time – and to (near) their idea of perfection THE FIRST TIME if they are not distracted by trying to do other things at the exact same time.
You can’t watch your son’s baseball game AND read the newspaper. Literally, you can; but, emotionally, passionately, and wholeheartedly – you cannot. You can’t drive a car and text. You can’t talk to your friend on the phone and sit and open and read an email. 
Again, literally and physically you CAN do these things, but what this type of behavior is telling the “other task” or the “other person” is that this new, additional task is more important than the activity at hand. You are not living your life in the moment. Instead, you are simply, robotically, mindlessly “completing” a series of multi-tasks being done simultaneously – and none of them REALLY done well.
While you may think you are saving time by listening to a book on tape while driving – (something that takes much more concentration than listening to music) or while you may think you are doing your kids a favor by doing the dishes while playing a word game “with” them – you aren’t. You are robbing yourself and anyone else in your circle of life of your attention, your love, your passion, and your sincerity.
The late, great Dr. James Magner, a professor and dear friend of mine, used to share with his students about being in the moment, “You can’t even take a shit if you aren’t focused and concentrated in that moment!” While the imagery was strong, he was absolutely right.
If you are writing a letter to someone, be in that process. If you are reading a book, be there with the characters. If you are driving to visit your horse at your friend’s farm, be in that drive – notice the scenery, take hold of the details. If you are holding a conversation with a friend, be in that conversation.
During this one, brief, beautiful life – however it is you choose to utilize the 24 hours of each day you are given – be sure you are in the moments that make up the days, that make up your life.
If you’d like to own a little paperback for your “back pocket” filled with vertical jottings by Dr. James Magner, you can order his book here; it will help put you on the path to being focused, concentrated, and in the moment. There are limited copies available; the cover art work is by Derek Hess.
