Multitasking is a way of life that you, I, and countless others live by. Â There is simply too much to do and not enough time to do it.
A few months ago, I began a project at work that was completely out of my knowledge base while working on my regular day-to-day tasks. Â Recently engaged and enrolled in a graduate school class, I was juggling. Â A lot. Â I posted to the class discussion board while editing a presentation, looked at wedding locations online while responding to e-mails, and spent more hours than required sitting at my computer trying to finish my tasks for the day.
After countless late nights, stress-induced binging on Taco Bell, and even some tears, I realized two key things:
- There’s no way I can do this all.
- There’s no way I can do some of this all at the same time.
As the wedding date had been set and project deadlines were looming, I decided to put graduate school on hold until 2011. Â And thank goodness I did, because work and wedding planning have just gotten busier in recent weeks.
Next, I took a page out of Ivanka Trump’s book (an excellent read for all young professionals) and attempted to quit the multitasking. Â As difficult as it was to break my GChat addiction, I quit having conversations while responding to e-mails. Â I gave myself a 5-minute Twitter/Facebook break every hour-and-half, and promptly shut down the windows after my allotted time was up. Â I focused on one item on my to-do list at a time and felt satisfied as I crossed it off upon completion. Â I flipped through wedding magazines and clicked through Indian bridal blogs at the end of the day to unwind and get inspiration for my own nuptials.
It is possible to do many things well. Â It is, however, impossible to do them well at once. Â Focusing on one item, finishing it, and moving to the next ensures quality, well-thought work.
Whether it’s a presentation, a blog post, or a tweet.
On the subject of doing many things: I have recently started contributing to one of my favorite websites, The Beauty Bean. Â Check out my first article here.
