Can You Successfully Multitask?

Of all the things I’m good at, there are equally things I stink at. Somewhere between ranges, the area I normally live. Where is that? Between handling life with calm and being overwhelmed with too many irons in the fire! Balance. Moderation. Knowing my ranges allows me to find that happy place between rest and pulling my hair out!

I listened to an ongoing conversation between a local radio talk show host (Dori Monson) and a 96-year old WWII soldier, Phil Sulman. (Link) What did he attribute to his success when asked about his ability to make it into senior age? Moderation. In everything.

Part of the problem is identifying your limits, understanding your boundaries, and comprehending if you can do several things required.

I learn this all the time, but lately, with my tractor and running the backhoe. Once I’m in place, using multiple directional wands (levers), I extend, cup, dig, curl, extract, rotate, extend, and drop. With two levers, I’m running the complex end of the digger! At times, I pause and do one task at a time instead of seamlessly doing all necessary functions to dig or refill. As a newly married man, I watched someone do all the tasks without hesitation and dig a perfectly rectangular hole with sharp edges and precise depth. Amazing!

Last week I drove my daughter’s car. Standard transmission, which I first learned long before I was of legal age to drive on the road! But each car is different. Shifting patterns. Feathering the clutch. Hearing the engine. Sensing the RPMs and knowing when to shift, and learning how much get-up-and-go each gear has! My next car will be a standard!

It Goes Deeper Than This

But life is nothing if it’s not complicated. It’s deeper than the learned tasks mentioned previously. It’s learning how to gauge and respond as necessary, often dealing with multiple issues simultaneously. I watch the guys in our sound room for each church service. There are two computers, and normally only a single operator for both… Each computer has a function. One focuses on the inside, and the other focuses on the streaming. When everything is set up properly and working well, then a single person can normally do everything. Allow for the variations that happen every week, then tweaking sound, dealing with internet issues, or a computer hiccup, then there can be more things going on than even a handful of people can handle!

Then, add life. Emotions. Frustrations. Distractions. Gadflys. Frazzled nerves can snap! Just like a rubber band pulled too tightly. When this happens, the shock waves can be felt everywhere, by everyone!

We’ve heard of those burning the candle at both ends, and understand it they are overworked! Probably distracted because the focus is hard to come by!

I was thinking about creation. You know. 6 days, and then rest. How long were those days? How many tasks had to happen for it to be perfect? At the close of each day, God said it was good. We do not hear of mistakes, do-overs, or gotcha moments! Yet, he Rested on the seventh day. (Genesis 2:2) Question: Is one day of rest enough?

Micro Pauses

I’ve learned it’s necessary to step back from the busyness of life, take a pause, even for a few minutes, and refreshed, reenter the fray. Driving long distances, power naps in a parking lot will keep me going another 3-4 hours. I’ve driven 40 hours straight like this, and the longest nap was about 2 hours. Most were less than 30 minutes.

Working on the Y2K project, it seemed we went long days of meeting after meeting, and then lunch seemed to be wrapped around even more meetings. In between meetings? We worked! Programming. Test. Verifying results. To this day, I’m amazed we made it through successfully!

In another job, I was in the computer room for about 70 hours straight, one weekend. It was inventory time. I managed the computer room, and it needed to be closely watched to keep the online system up and tallies counted and distributed for re-counts. I slept in the corner with a blanket and pillow for an hour or so every eight hours, it seems.

Is that making it? What about God?

God Does, And He Makes It Where You Can

The Bible tells us that God never sleeps nor slumbers (napping?). (Psalms 121:3-4) My question is often, how can he know what’s happening everywhere, all day long? The answer? He’s God. I don’t know how he does it.

Think about the physiology of your body. Right now. Your eyes are reading, but at the same time, it notices the surrounding area. Your brain is firing on all cylinders, processing data, controlling rabbit trails, and simultaneously making up the shopping list. And? It’s controlling all the other functions of your body! Imagine that! When it gets tired? You rest. When it needs fuel? You eat. The brain even controls those functions at the same time it tells your heart to beat! The pathway to the brain is all the nerves you have throughout your body! Sever a nerve, and you will have phantom signals related to the brain expecting, not receiving, and trying to fill in the empty gaps.

Against all odds, your body is multitasking. Sometimes effectively! Other times not so well. You do have the ability to do it better than the last time; only you work at “getting up to speed” by preparation. Rest. Prepare the little tasks, so the bigger tasks flow better.

In other words, you can do more than a single task. Why? You’re already doing it. How do you do it better? You train yourself to do it better than before. Repetition. Inspiration. Perspiration. Focus. Accomplish!

Take It Spiritual

Alongside the amazing function of the body, your spirit is working simultaneously to keep you in tune with God. It’s multitasking on every front to make sure you are functioning properly. It’s easy to step away from what we don’t feel when we stay away from that part of life that keeps us feeling God. Paul describes it to Timothy like this:

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly,
that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;  
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
1 Timothy 4:1-2 KJV 

Have you ever burnt your finger getting it too close to a hot surface? Do it often enough, and you will destroy the nerves, deadening future pain and making the skin unable to feel for future danger signals. In fact, there’s a certain area on my hand that cannot feel the pain of fire. The signals to the brain do not work, and that’s a sensitive area to attack in the future.

Don’t let the repetition of searing your conscience with a hot iron, so you will never feel the suffering of being too far from God. At least the Prodigal “came to himself” (Luke 15:17). The Father celebrated his return and treated him as if he had never left and wasted his life. That’s Grace! Jesus would not have taught it if it wasn’t available today. Multitask yourself away from Him, but come to yourself before it’s too late, and he’ll welcome you back. That’s Him multitasking for you!