Dear Friends,
While looking at some news videos, I came across this.
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I’m writing to tell you that this is silly. Our lives are busy. Cultural pressures push us to get busier and multitask more. But it has not come to this. 80% of your brain watches this clip and knows how foolish it is. But the other 20% of your brain might be appalled that the Today Show is telling you that this is something practical. Some part of society is really suggesting that you add these two things to the list of junk you are expected to multitask?
And these two things in particular – two things that most people either find enjoyable and relaxing or painful and more painful. You are either doubling your misery or halving your happiness. All the while doing a poor job at both.
You don’t need to weigh down your vacuum and do lunges. You are already holding a child on your hip and bending over every 10 seconds to pick rogue Legos up off the floor. Or you have your heart rate up because you have 10 minutes to clean your whole house before your guests arrive or you need to get to the bus stop. The world does not really expect you to perform a sit-up while doing a crap job folding undershirts. This trainer says this will make you sexy, but it’s just going to make you angry and your undershirts wrinkly.
The next time you are folding undershirts and feel you the need for an abdominal workout, please imagine walking into the house of any one of your friends or relatives and finding them earnestly performing lunges or in plank position scissoring their legs with dusting slippers. The resulting laughter should give you a good workout.
Either we learn to complete one task at a time with focus and efficiency, or maybe we can set new expectations for daily activities that should be multitasked. How about we pair some activities that go well together efficiently? I’ll get us started. Drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. Eating dinner and spending time with your family. Living life and being happy. Doing what we can do calmly and letting go of the rest.
