How Good Are You At Multitasking? Your Writing Tells

Sciencists say that you can’t really multitask. Sure you can walk and talk, and maybe even chew gum at the same time, but what they are talking about is attention, not those tasks you can do on automatic. You can just switch your attention more or less quickly from one thing to another.

Ok, so it just looks like multitasking when it’s really fast, but science has found some interesting things about your ability to quickly switch, and we’ll call it multitasking to make it easy. Clearly some people do it better than others. Women do it better, science shows, when having to listen to more than one thing at the same time, perhaps because we have a thicker corpus callossum connection. Women tend to be more accurate than men, while being just as productive, when they have to switch/multitask.

People between 20 and 40 are best at this. Kids, as any parent can attest, have a hard time keeping more than one thing in their mind at a time. They get so engrossed in the moment. Older people have trouble limiting the number of thoughts in their heads, perhaps because they have so many associations. However, individuals vary greatly in their abilities to multitask, regardless of age.

Handwriting does give clues to how good you are at being attentive to multiple cues, which is related. Piani and Company has worked with corporations for over thirty years, and we’ve noticed that there is a handwriting indicator that shows, unless there are counter signs in the writing, like slow writing, for example, how good a person is at multitasking.

That’s because to switch, you have to be aware that there’s something to switch to in the first place, be very aware of your whole environment. It’s like having a wide angle lens vs. a telephoto lens. Each lens has its advantages, depending on the situation and what you want to do about it, but for multitasking, you need the wide angle to notice what’s going on in your overall environment, not just the task at hand. The larger you write, in general, the wider your lens, and the more quickly you will be able to switch your attention, so the overall size of your writing is an important component of your multitasking quotient.

You may have noticed that when you are really concentrated on something, sometimes taking notes on a difficult subject, your writing may get smaller. You are devoting almost all your attention to what you are doing. You may have known some people who can be so engrossed in what they are doing that they won’t notice the house burning until their clothes catch fire. They write small or have been smoking something illegal.

However, take heart! Spiritual masters teach the importance of doing one thing at a time, being fully present in the moment, and you really can’t do that quickly, however good you are at multitasking. So multitasking may add to your efficiency at some tasks, but it won’t lead to bliss!

I’m off on a two week combination business/pleasure trip on the 31st, so I may not be able to reply to your comments quickly, but I will get back to you, one at a time.

Namaste,
Hedy
Awareness Transforms
The Relationship Dance Community