9 October 2008

Just as I began to write whatever I was going to write here, my email dinger sounded off and I left this window to see who emailed me. Then I replied to that email. Then I saw I had another email. And now I am back.

It’s interesting to think about how we are taught, persuaded, encouraged to be multitaskers, in school, work, culture, media. When it comes to computing, I am the best. When it comes to anything else, not so much. But really, when it comes to computing, I don’t think I’m so great at it. At best, I am managing distractions. Everything is a distraction from what I ought to be doing.

After years and years of learning to multitask, I want so badly be a singletasker. If only I could sustain my concentration long enough to do so. This is something I am working on, and it involves not managing the distractions, but getting rid of the distractions.

NPR has a worthwhile article about this. Read or listen.