Multi-tasking

One of the things that I have been ever more aware of the past few months is how much multi-tasking I do.  It seems more and more that I am becoming almost incapable of simply focusing one activity.  The one thing that I do take comfort in is that it seems that I am not the only person that has been inflicted with this condition.  Every day the world seems to be getting faster and faster, with more and more things to catch our attention on a daily basis.  There are many times in the morning where I find myself getting ready for the day, while eating breakfast, watching Sportscenter, and listening to music.  That is just one example of the ways in which multi-tasking has taken a hold of my life.  While I was in school, I found that I had a hard time focusing on my homework or what I was studying for an extended period of time as well.  When I did my studying I actually often found that I did a better job of getting things done and retaining what I was studying when I had music / television on, or both. 

The interesting thing to me is that the world seems to be ever more oriented towards a multi-tasking mindset.  Gone are the days when you could simply focus on one thing at a time.  There are so many competing sources for your attention these days that it is no wonder that so many kids have diagnosed or undiagnosed ADD and other disorders which make it harder for them to focus.  I was wondering the other day what it would have been like to live 50 or 100 years ago when there were not so many things to distract us.  Would I still find it difficult to focus on things for an extended period of time?  Would there be as many kids with trouble in school due to their inability to pay attention?  One of the presumed benefits of the ever increasing multi-tasking society we have become is that it helps people get more things accomplished.  We have become a society in which things need to get done, and they need to get done now.  I can't help but wonder as we continue down this path of trying to fit more activities and entertainment into shorter periods of time, what the consequences will be for each one of us individually and for the world as a whole.  01-09-11

* I have however found that blogging while trying to watch TV / movies makes the whole process a lot slower…