Unitasking.
A new (to me) term that I stumbled on yesterday in a magazine. The opposite of multitask. So you pick one thing and you UNItask. Historically, I think that’s been called “focus” but we’ll go with the um…..new word.
Unitask.
Why do we need new words to bring old ideas into our focus? Is that what it takes to make us notice them again?
That’s almost like taking a toy that a child has long abandoned, wrapping it up and giving it to him again with the hopes that it will create a new excitement. Hmmm.
Unitask. Focus. Singularities.
Not multi.
I did this at the beach yesterday. There I was checking my phone, yes my phone…at the beach…horrible, I know…and it hit me. Put the thing down. The sand is at your feet, the sparkly blue water is lapping close by…put it down. Focus. Unitask, April. And not with some piece of technology when Mama Nature and people are right here with you.
Phone went away. Even my magazines which I had hopes of settling into were left in the beach bag. They returned home today without a single grain of sand stuck in the folds. I focused exclusively on what was in front of me.
My kids. The water. The sun. The rocks. The 7-legged, 1-clawed crab that my daughter found under a rock and was so thrilled with. “The biggest one I’ve caught in a while!”
I got off my duff and sauntered down to the water with my other daughter and we had a sweet little conversation while standing knee high in the *brrrr* rather cool water. “Did this cool you off today? Yup. It’s pretty cold. By August, it will much warmer. Almost like bath water. We’ll come back many times before then and see how it warms up. Should we get an ice cream cone now? Yup. Let’s get your sister. Love you. Love you too, Mom.”
It’s always amazing to me the actual visual lift you see in a child’s face when you say that you will, as in this case, join them down at the water or take the time to admire that crazy crab that they found. They want your focus. They just want you to unitask…with them.
Nothing but good comes of it.
Long ago, I came to the conclusion that “multitasking” was a synonym for “half-ass work.”
I keep looking at your strange term and reading UN-tasking, which maybe is the same thing. One thing at a time also keeps you on focus.
By the way, the ocean where I live is usually very cold or just cold most of the summer. Jump in and see where your concentration turns! Then come out, sit in the sun, let the mind wander. One thing at a time.
Cheers!
That’s exactly what my husband always tells me….do one thing well instead of 5 things half-assed, lol.
One thing at a time, indeed!
Love this! I’ve been getting the same lesson from my travels. Be here now. I’m about to turn 41…
Amazing how lessons can happen anywhere, any place, at any time… 🙂
Sometimes we have to slow down to smell the roses. There is something special about soaking in the beach – one of my favourite places to sit quietly and do nothing! Soak it in and love it! Now if the beach would only be so kind as to move closer to my house, I would be ever so appreciative!!!! 🙂
LOL That’s on the top of my bucket list…a little house by the sea….