I am a multi-tasker. I can rarely focus on just one thing. In fact, I sometimes come up with strange ways to accomplish things.
For instance, on a cleaning day I might read one chapter of a book, clean a room, read another chapter and then clean another room. Others might choose to do all their cleaning at one time and then sit down to read a book. Not me, I have to always be switching back and forth between things.
So this has carried into my work as a writer and let me tell you, I am finding more and more that multi-tasking while writing doesn’t really work. I mean sure, I can do it but I’m not as efficient when I do this.
What I find myself doing is switching often between writing projects, stopping at the end of a writing piece to quick check e-mail, throw in a load of wash, get the mail and so on. It’s like I constantly have my hand in more than one pot and while it might seem like I am getting more done, I’m really not.
So I have been slowly getting myself to a place where I focus on one thing at a time. I find that it helps me do better on my writing piece and my thoughts aren’t going a thousand different directions.
Another reason multi-tasking while writing doesn’t work is because you tend to get sidetracked. I might decide to grab the mail but then something comes that I have to read. Or I suddenly remember that I forgot to make out a grocery list. I figure I will just quick write one and then get back to work. But getting sidetracked with groceries has caused me to lose sight of what I was writing about.
With writing it is better to stick to what you are doing and put all of your focus and energy into it. It’s okay to stop and take breaks, to do other things but it shouldn’t be done so frequently that it becomes a case of multi-tasking, nor should you try to do other things when you are in the midst of writing.
What about you? Do you struggle with multi-tasking and how have you been able to combat it, if you have?
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