Monotasking Vs Multitasking

This parable is very true & relevant to our lifestyles where we feel that doing only one thing (mono tasking) is a waste of time.

Mother saw the child studying and watching TV at the same time. She invited her child to play a game. She said, "we have 5 fingers on each hand lets call them the five senses, thumb is touch, index is smell, middle is taste, fourth is hearing, little finger sight." She then threw a ball at the child asking him to catch it. The child caught it easily with one hand. She then bandaged the little finger with the palm and again threw the ball. The child caught the ball but with difficulty. The mother then tied the thumb and the little finger to the palms then threw the ball at him. Child could not catch the ball.

She explained to the confused child, "as we require all our fingers and our palm to catch the ball, similarly we need all our senses to do things efficiently."

In the ancient scripture Upanishads, our five sense organs are compared to the 5 horses that pull a chariot and our mind to a charioteer. Just as the horses would run wild if the charioteer lost control of them so also our senses would play havoc if not controlled by the mind. Therefore, we should concentrate fully on one activity at a time. No matter how mundane the task at hand seems, but if you give your undivided attention, you end up doing it better & in lesser time.

For this week, list all the tasks that you carry out during the day and analyse which ones are clubbed together with other tasks and what is the outcome of those. e.g talking on phone while driving, eating while watching TV, reading newspapers in the loo............ the list seems endless.