When will we be burned out enough to recognize the impact that "multi-tasking" is having on our lives?  When I took my first management position back in the eighties, I had about 25 direct and matrixed reporting relationships.  My work came from multiple places:  the boss, direct reports, internal clients, and external clients.  I quickly realized I needed to organize myself differently and took a Franklin Time Management class.  It was here that I learned about the skill of starting one thing - and learning how to note tasks that were dependent on others to take action - so that the request didn't get lost.  This was my understanding of multi-tasking - being able to manage multiple projects, at multiple stages and remaining proactive about moving them forward.  When speaking with groups today, I remind them of this origin for multi-tasking - and that our business culture has taken this concept to an extreme that exacts a very high price.

While at the HBA conference this week, I saw numerous examples of leaders in hallways with their laptops open and their smartphones in hand (didn't they come to be in the conference?).  In my coaching practice, I frequently meet with clients who are overwhelmed by the demands of their work and personal lives, and feel they were failing everywhere because they are faced with impossible choices to be in more than one place at one time.  In business meetings, it is not uncommon to see people constantly checking and responding to emails while agenda items are being covered (do you really think they're hearing what you're saying?).  While our minds are wonderful computer processors, incoming information  needs to be digested on multiple levels.  Remember when you were younger and your mom would say you had to wait 20 minutes after eating before going back into the swimming pool?  Why was this?  Because the blood flow required to digest food was of the same pool of blood required to activate the muscles and lungs to swim.  The body would ultimately make a choice about where to send the blood if one process began before the other had sufficiently completed.  This metaphor holds true in our intellectual and emotional processes as well.  Incoming experience kick-starts a chain reaction of the digestion of cognitive and emotional data.  Multiple systems work in coordination to move and transform information from the incoming state, to the chewing state of breaking down and understanding the parts, to the absorption and integration of what's valuable, to the elimination and release of what's not needed or useful.

The next time you find yourself in a meeting where you're thinking about your next meeting, checking your smartphone, and jumping in and out of meeting discussions - take a pause and notice what's happening in your body.  Chances are you'll notice racing thoughts, rapid heart beat, impatience or irritability with "something or someone", perhaps you've even had moments where you've become an annihilator of another person or their ideas.  Is this really the way we want to live our lives?  Is this the life we want for our children?

It took a 20-year career and "hitting the wall" twice for me to get this.  I was known as a person who did the heavy lifting on projects, who took on work no one else wanted, and always got it done.  Friends - this came at a price.  Frequent migraines, not being able to sleep or sleep deeply, on-the-go diet of caffeine and fast-food, few relationships outside of work, and many missed moments with my children.  I measured my value and worth by what I accomplished.  And did I mention the crankiness?  Are we really effective when we work this way? 

Today, I've decided to stop running upstream with the other salmon and to beach myself.  Twenty years of an engrained habit is hard to break, and every day I'm working, "to do one thing at a time".  I am learning to say no to others and to myself.  I send myself daily reminders to eat well, take time to meditate and journal, and reassess if I'm putting energy towards my highest priorities.  I put exercise right on my calendar.  I have post-it's on my bathroom mirror to remind myself to enjoy being where I am, to learn from the present moment, and to put my attention fully on the person in front of me - whoever that may be.  You may be wondering how or if this is changing my life.  Well, let's see.  My thoughts are clearer.  I have creative bursts of energy.  I'm generally happier.  I'm in a career that I love and love working hard at it.  My children are in my life and I'm in theirs.  My conversations with my husband are moving past the coordination of our lives and into sharing our lives.  I truly love my clients and can't wait to be with them.  Don't get me wrong - I don't have it all figured out!    As my pastor says, I'm a work in progress, and that's ok.  Some days are better than others and each day is a fresh start.   What I can say with certainty is that I'm committed to this change in my life and to setting a different example as a leader, a mother, a wife, a friend and a coach.