"Mono-tasking"

I recently read in my alma mater's alumni connection about the idea of "mono-tasking"- per the Colorado College block plan of taking one college course at a time, for 3.5 weeks. I realize, after considering this now "revolutionary" system, that perhaps college was such a great time because I was able to slow down and focus. This may seem to be paradoxical, as taking an entire semester's worth of content in only 3.5 weeks by no means feels "slow", on the other hand, there were not so many distractions, giving me time to fully emerge my thoughts and time on a single idea, content, or activity. This system allowed for the depth that I long to teach in my classroom today, without having to be concerned about the other 4-5 courses my students are enrolled in. But this concept extends beyond the classroom, and learning.

The idea of mono-tasking seems to be lost on our current generation and culture. Instead of stopping, slowing down, and relaxing, we are always looking for easier ways to access multiple forms of technology and information, all at the same time. Even as I type this post, I realize that having the news on in the background and having my Google chat open at the same time is taking away from my focus on writing. So what is it that we lose while we live in a world of "multitasking" instead of "mono-tasking"? Are our relationships suffering because we won't give our loved ones 100% of our attention at any given time? (Especially when they deserve and need 100% of our attention at a time of trouble, or to build the relationships.) Does our work suffer because we aren't paying as close attention to the details, but instead are trying to get more done, in a shorter amount of time, while working on other items at the same time. What about our anxiety? Imagine why so many of us suffer from anxiety when we can't even stop our thoughts from interrupting other thoughts, when we've trained our brains to just keep moving and to multi-think. (I am coining that!)

NO WONDER WE ARE EXHAUSTED! I believe some of my generation FEARS being unplugged and fears the quiet, peace, and perhaps even concentration that doing ONE thing at a time might lead to, perhaps require?! This would mean that we have to spend time with ourselves. We have to spend time with our thoughts. And then we have to make decisions about those thoughts, we have to come to conclusions about who we REALLY are deep down inside. The fear lies in the fact that we may not like what we find out, and we may find out how really upset or unhappy we are. But instead of running, we need to face the fear and take control over our lives instead of letting life take control of us.

So, try something new in the coming weeks. Mono-task. Do ONE thing at a time, perhaps ONE thing a day. We may find that we will actually get a lot more done...