tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3996792151834605734.post8720324084617536284..comments2024-02-13T09:34:46.742-08:00Comments on Esmerelda's Book Thing: Attention Please!Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17482718286150001843noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3996792151834605734.post-88338578616370629882010-11-07T11:49:03.294-08:002010-11-07T11:49:03.294-08:00Ah, Steph nails an important distinction: multitas...Ah, Steph nails an important distinction: multitasking at things we do (at work, at home, in free time) vs. multitasking at how we are (in relation to one another, in, love, etc.) -- areas at which "efficiency" is valued in very different ways. Interesting...Scott S. Semesterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12626492699810322808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3996792151834605734.post-50140483605275178212010-11-07T10:42:01.300-08:002010-11-07T10:42:01.300-08:00I know the science says that if I do only one thin...I know the science says that if I do only one thing at a time, I'll be more efficient at it...but I don't see how I could keep my job if I didn't mulitask. Seriously, we move so quickly and constant juggling is a necessary survival task. I don't care for that - but it's the current work environment for me. Maybe we're just really good at fast switching.<br /><br />At home, I need to work on being a more focused listener to the DH! Not multitasking in my personal relationships is an important thing, I think.Stephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05753205572837649406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3996792151834605734.post-87612149234651838812010-11-07T09:47:27.057-08:002010-11-07T09:47:27.057-08:00I haven't been on a meditation retreat, but I ...I haven't been on a meditation retreat, but I did do an experiment last year while on an at-home vacation. (My long-standing prohibition of the word "staycation" is well-documented; therefore "at-home vacation.")<br /><br />Anyway.<br /><br />My experiment was to challenge myself to a whole day of single-tasking, rather than giving myself over to Continuous Partial Attention, as we post-millennial western humans have been socialized to do. So when I was on the computer, I only had one window open -- writing only, not writing and twittering and listening to music. At noon, I was making lunch only, not making lunch and watching TV and chatting on the phone with a friend.<br /><br />I lasted about 5 hours before finally putting some music on in the background of whatever it was I was doing. And once that hole was drilled, the whole dam burst.<br /><br />I don't know if our brain chemistry has changed over the last 50 years, or if our behavior has been influenced by the logarithmic explosion of media vying for our attention, or what. But I can tell you it's damned hard to only do one thing at a time these days. Damned hard.Scott S. Semesterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12626492699810322808noreply@blogger.com