I am a notorious multitasker. I am one of those people who is always doing two or more things at once - I always have multiple programs open on my computer and am frequently bouncing back and forth from email to email. I do my vocal exercises while I'm cooking or doing the dishes or worse, when I bouncing back and forth from email to email. I used to feel quite on top of things whilst in the middle of one of these fits, but now I find it frustrating.
While once celebrated, the art of multitasking has garnered a lot of criticism lately. Apparently it actually cuts back on productivity rather than increasing it. My issue with it is that I feel perpetually distracted and never feel the satisfaction of focusing on and consequently completing a task. As someone who is trying her darnedest to stay "in the moment", multitasking is the worst possible way to try and do this.
Instead, I have been experimenting with giving 100% of my attention to one task at a time. My son took a short nap this morning and I used that opportunity to play through and edit an arrangement of "Everything I love", which I found extremely enjoyable. I got to my teaching gig in Brooklyn 40 minutes before my day started and I spent time working on soloing at different tempos for "Everything". I got to vocalize for 10 minutes this morning, and rather than straighten up or fold some laundry, I decided to just focus on my vocal anatomy and enjoy the time to myself.
I miss the days when I had what now feels like unlimited time to practice. The funny thing is, I never felt like that there was enough time then either! As a new mom who is trying to balance work with the household duties, I have the least amount of time I've ever had. Perhaps by living in the moment I will be able to make each moment count.
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