If much of your work is on the
computer, you have probably grown accustomed to having more than one window up
at the same time. As you work, you may get email notifications that you need to
check, a notification from Messenger, and the phone may ring with an important
call. If your boss shows up at the door, you stop what you are doing and focus.
You may feel exhausted at the end
of the day. You might think you did not accomplish much. However, you are a
multitasking champion. Such is life in the 21st century. Are you
able to multitask? Answering such a question positively on a job resume will
help. Some people have suggested that multitasking is good for the brain.
Studies of the human brain have
long fascinated me. Some of you might remember studies of the Left and Right
brain. On the physical side, I find it fascinating that we are able to do so
much with the firing of the neurons in the brain.
Is multitasking so good for the
brain? Sandra Bond Chapman[1],
director of the Center for BrainHealth, does not think so. In fact, it is quite
the opposite.
"Multitasking is a brain drain
that exhausts the mind, zaps cognitive resources and, if left unchecked,
condemns us to early mental decline and decreased sharpness. Chronic
multi-taskers also have increased levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, which
can damage the memory region of the brain."
It looks as if the brain has a
design that involves doing one thing at a time. What feels like
"multitasking" is actually more like mentally switching from one
thing to another since it is impossible for us to do two things at once. If you
are talking while driving, whether with someone in the car or the phone, you
might blow past your exit or drive 20 miles without remembering how you got
there. That frequent switching back and forth from task to task actually makes
you less efficient, less focused and less productive because you are only
thinking about those things on a surface level.
The solution, according to Dr.
Chapman, is to focus on one thing at a time. She calls getting things done
sequentially "Single-tasking," focusing completely on one task before
moving on to another. When we are able to filter our thinking to focus only on what
is most important at that moment, we can experience increased productivity and
enhance our ability to think strategically. Our brains can become more
efficient and our output of higher quality when we devote all of our mental
resources to what really matters.
We may multitask because we are not
able to set priorities for the use of our time and energy. It requires some
attention to yourself and to your situation to assess what truly matters most
right now, and do that. This process begins to sound like much that we learn in
spiritual formation.
In any case, if the design of the brain is
toward focusing on one thing at a time, we might expect this principle to show
up in our spiritual formation as well. After all, we believe, do we not, that
the whole person is connected -- body, mind and spirit -- to God? Nevertheless,
like the rest of our lives, we are often prone to spiritual multitasking. We can
slip into thinking that keeping busy and gathering more information in matters
related to church and Bible are signs of spiritual maturity. Churches tend to
add more and more activities to the schedule. Some devout people feel like they
are failing spiritually if they are not involved in multiple programs for
learning and mission. It is easy for us to become distracted, exhausted and
burned out trying to multitask great things for God.
[1] Chapman, Sandra Bond. "Why single-tasking makes
you smarter." Forbes Website. May 8, 2013. forbes.com. Retrieved April 1,
2016.
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