Multitasking can be quite overwhelming for me, and I did not realize that multitasking was the cause of my anxiety at work until I decided to try to do things one at a time. In 2018, I was a pretty successful Claims Manager at my previous employer and while I created the systems, templates and processes of the role, I found myself overwhelmed more times than not. Between handling my normal daily activities, which was about 150-200 claims a day, I was also responsible for highly escalated issues and answering internal employee/customer service questions. At any given moment, I could be immersed in one task and be disrupted into handling another, and this quickly led me to feeling anxious several times throughout the day. My brain just always felt on the fritz until clock out time and once at home, I would be sullen about the idea of going back into the office the next day. The reality was that although I was great at multitasking, it was no small feat on the body and mind.
It is true that with age comes wisdom because one day I just decided to stop forcing myself to do so many things at once. I learned that communication was key when it came to allowing myself to be disrupted for things that could wait. A simple “I’ll take care of this when I get a moment.” or “Take a message and I’ll get back to them.” goes a long way. It not only allowed me to give my attention to the disruption temporarily, but it allowed me to keep steady on the current task at-hand. It unlocked my brain into a relaxed but focused state as opposed to a pressured one. The thought of having to stretch myself so thin these days is unconscionable, and I do not force myself to be a “productive princess” anymore as I now understand that my value is not in how many tasks I can take on, but the ability to do each task well.
Unfortunately, this revelation is not a global one and with the increased access to phones and social media, people are always multitasking aka distracted. I cannot tell you how many times I have watched people “converse” with one person talking and the other focused on their phone. I cannot tell you how many times I have been one person in this scenario or the other. I have learned how rude it is to be more focused on my phone, giving my attention to virtual acquaintances and the constant barrage of information, than being present with the person right in front of me. There are some people who live their entire lives on their phones, who do not have any idea what they actually like or who they actually are outside of engagements or social media topics. The world has become such a vapid place simply because multitasking requires us to stay connected to others in superficial ways.
#multitasking #brainrot #stress #burnout #🥹 #onethingatatimechallenge
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