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The Eighth Deadly Sin

What is the Eighth Deadly Sin? Multitasking!

We’re all guilty of it. In fact, you’re probably doing it right now…

• We drink coffee while we work at the computer.
• We work at the computer while we talk on the phone.
• We talk on the phone while we drive.

Multitasking.

Ok, so it’s not exactly deadly, and you’re probably not going to hell for it. Never the less, this common human habit can cause chaos in our lives. For instance, how many times have you:

• Spilt a drink on your desk?
• Sent an email to the wrong person?
• Braked suddenly for traffic lights?

The reason multitasking can cause chaos is because attention is like money: it’s quantifiable and at any point in time you have a finite amount. So when you divide your attention between two (or more) tasks, each task receives less than 100 per cent of your attention. To illustrate, let’s say you’re going to the movies with $25 in your pocket. If you spend $15 on a movie ticket, then you’ve got $10 left to spend on popcorn and choc-tops. Attention works the same way. If you’re driving and spending $15 worth of attention talking on the phone, then you only have $10 worth of attention left for controlling the car. See the problem?

But multitasking isn’t just performing two activities at the same time—performing one activity while thinking about another is also multitasking. (Driving home while thinking about what you’re going to have for dinner, for example.) Your attention is still divided between two things. Each thing is still receiving less than 100 per cent of your attention. That’s multitasking.

The opposite of multitasking is mindfulness—the practice by which you give each moment and whatever it entails (an action, a thought, an emotion, etc.) your fullest attention. For example, if you’re working at your desk and the phone rings, mindfulness would have you stop typing, look away from your computer screen, and give the person on the other end of the phone your complete attention (rather than continuing to type or read while they’re talking to you).

For seasoned multitaskers, which may be most of us, practising mindfulness is surprisingly difficult. It seems our minds become so accustomed to operating at high speed with multiple inputs that to break the momentum and channel all our attention into only one task is a big ask. But the rewards of mindfulness are worth the effort. With 100 per cent of your attention dedicated to each task, the quality of your work reaches a new level—indeed, the highest level of which you are capable. Fewer errors sully your output, and less coffee soils your keyboard. Job satisfaction rises, and, perhaps most importantly, stress levels recede.

Not only can mindfulness improve our work lives, it can improve our personal lives as well. When you’re at home watching the evening news and your partner starts telling you about their day, do you continue to half-listen to the television and begin absent-mindedly nodding along to the conversation (multitasking)? Or do you mute the television, look at your partner, and listen to what they have to say (mindfulness)? When you choose the mindfulness approach, you show your partner that they are worth 100 per cent of your attention—an act of loving kindness that cannot be overestimated.

Integrate mindfulness into your day, one moment at a time. Then watch as your work and your life take on a higher—and somehow more genuine—quality.

Article written by Australian Bookkeepers Network (ABN)

To find out more about ABN visit www.austbook.net