Do one thing, not two, not five: multitasking is not the answer

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n past years I've gotten worse at my single-tasking ability. You know, the original way of doing things: one at a time. Even now I'm stuck in this habit of watching television and writing at the same time. It's become crippling and I'm trying to stop. Honestly, there's no reason to get started in any sort of multitasking because, no matter who you are, it's not productive. I know that there are people who enjoy doing many things at once, but there's a major problem with that: it gives you ADD. I'm not diagnosing anyone, just saying that people who need to do more than one thing at a time will never be satisfied with having a single thing.

Getting used to a multitasking routine can actually make your life more unproductive than it was before. If you pay attention to one thing then you can typically give it all of your effort without needing to think about it too much. If something pressing is on your mind, however, it's hard to simply concentrate on a single task, I know. Still, there's no reason to willfully let yourself get into the habit of doing too many things at once. Take life slow, the way it was intended: one thing at a time. You'll be better off not opening one tab, starting to read it, and then going to find another distraction. It will hurt you in the end.

Oh yeah, and I still don't understand how people can read and listen to music or watch television at the same time. Such a comprehensive activity baffles me.