Multitasking & HSP
- Caprice
- Aug 10, 2016
- 2 min read
I am not good at multi-tasking and furthermore I don't like it. There, I said it out loud! I remember in the 90's going on job interviews and that was definitely the popular buzzword. Everyone officially loved multi-tasking, right? Not! I mean, I guess maybe some people did...
I was so relieved a few years back when I saw articles coming out stating that multi-tasking actually decreases productivity and work quality. I have always known that in order to do a good job, I needed to focus on one thing at a time and remove outside distractions. As an HSP this was especially important, I just didn't know about the HSP. I just thought I was quirky.
At work, I've always needed a quiet space with minimal interruptions. I can't even chat while I work. I had one very lovely colleague who loved to chat while we were working. I envied her ability to talk and work at the same time. She was a very perceptive and thoughtful person, so was able to understand over time that I was not blowing her off but simply unable to talk and work simultaneously.
Being a parent is a challenge. Children interrupt all the time, especially their mothers. My poor son was so confused when he was younger. He got two completely conflicting messages from me. "Ask for help when you need it." "Don't interrupt me when I'm focusing on a task." What's a kid to do?! He's finally old enough that he really gets it. Just yesterday I was running around trying to get some paperwork done and he started to ask me a question, then stopped and said, "Oh, you're focused, I'll ask you in a while." He's learning to time his questions to when I'm more available.
I'd love to hear how other HSP's manage multi-tasking. Sometimes it's just unavoidable. I wish I could be more elegant in switching from focused task mode to listening mode to problem solving mode. I'm often so mentally deep into what I'm doing that I don't even hear the interruption. I think I do better at this switching when I've pro-actively meditated several times throughout the day. I'm not quite there yet at taking the time to do this for myself but I try to remind myself that it's "sharpening the saw".
Thank goodness the golden age of the virtuous multi-tasker is over! At least I can now tell the truth about myself.
Blessings!
Caprice
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