One of the tidbits I jotted down at the recent Pennwriters Conference was something Meredith Mileti, our luncheon keynote speaker said. She proposed that many writers are unitaskers. Since I am entirely the opposite, I had to explore this a little.
As I've mentioned on this blog many times, I always have music or even a video playing in the background when I write. I'm watching a TV show on demand as I write this. As a busy mother, I learned to multitask as a way to survive and make sure everything ran smoothly. That carried over to my writing. But Meredith sounded so sure of herself I had searched out some articles on the subject. Here is one from Forbes and another interesting one from Naukri, a career help site.
Most of the articles I found were related to working in office like places rather than writing at home but the advice was the same. But the advice is solid for working at home also. I found it very interesting and am going to try unitasking more, especially when I feel like I'm stuck on a scene. The point made in a few of the articles that stuck with me is that multitasking is really nothing of the sort. What your mind is actually doing is switching quickly from task to task and giving none its due attention.
There were a few ideas shared to help you unitask and again one stuck with me. Uncluttering your workspace. Those stacks of reminders of other things you need to address will on distract you from what you're working on. I realized this is so true for me. I'm going to clean up my desk this weekend.
Another point I learned from reading about unitaskers is that sometimes I am one. When I do edits, I do that without the music or video noise. At least I'm doing something right.
So do you unitask or multitask when you write? Do you agree with what the articles say about the inefficiency of multitasking? When do you always unitask at an activity? Do you agree with Meredith that many writers are unitaskers?
17 comments:
I've found that as I get older I find it harder to do many things at once (which I used to be great at). Now I need as little distraction as possible.
mood
Moody Writing
I get what you're saying. But I actually need quiet when I'm writing. Complete silence. The only thing that works is maybe a very quiet sport like tennis or golf in the background. This works for me, especially when I'm editing. But when writing I really need to concentrate on the creative, and being distracted, even with music, can hinder that.
I listen to music as I write and edit, since it focuses me. But I don't write with the t.v. on, or listening to the news or anything like that. Because as you said, doing that just takes away my attention from everything I'm doing.
Good luck with getting into the uni-tasking habit. :-)
I guess I suck, because I multitask. That's how I write as well - music on, television on. At work, I do my work while watching a movie on my laptop and blogging. (In my defense, my job is do a little work and wait - over and over - so there is down time in between.)
I tend to multitask, but see the importance of giving what you're doing your full, undivided attention. I'm looking around at my desk right now, and I think I might have to join you in the cleanup this weekend. :)
I'm always so busy I end up multitasking. But I do have to stop and focus on one thing when I finish a task so I know I did it right.
I started out as a multitasked, but now as I get more into my writing, I find that I turn off the music when writing/editing and really focus on the "task" at hand.
Have a lovely weekend, Susan....
When it comes to writing, or any important project, I'm a unitask person. Sometimes I can have music on sometimes not--depends upon the music and the project.
Can I multitask? You bet, but most of these tasks are things I almost do on auto pilot anyway.
I do need to clean off my desk again, lol!
Sia McKye Over Coffee
I'm not sure I was ever a multi-tasker, or at least not a very good one. I usually need to concentrate on one thing at a time although I'm good to do things like go for a walk or fold laundry AND think about stuff, like writing or making a plan for the weekend etc.
Madeline @ The Shellshank Redemption
I am a multitasker with certain things like household tasks but when it's writing? No. I need to be left alone to focus.
I do 50 things at once at my sea and it all gets done, so I'm not going to mess with it. But yeah everything is clean thanks to ocd lol
Multi-tasking seems to come with being a wife, a mother and a writer. But I agree, it's not efficient and it often causes more mistakes than not. For me, it has shortened my attention span and I read articles about how this shortening of attention span comes from a physical re-configuring of the brain. Yikes!
For creative projects like writing or art, I tend to unitask and focus, but for domestic work, and previous office work - multitasking was required as work forces shrank.
I don't totally agree with their assessment of the value of multitasking as long as something is done to move a project forward.
Business seems to go in circles as to whether they prefer one method over another.
Most writers I know are multitaskers. I'm a unitasker. I focus on one story at a time, or I do one job at a time. I get too caught up in a story to be able to do two at once.
Definitely a unitasker when it comes to writing! I can't work on more than one story at a time or I would just get into a horrible mess. I also write articles, and I have to do a mental shift when I go from one to the other, but I don't try doing them together.
Hi Susan .. I do multi-task at times - where concentration isn't needed ... but for writing blogposts and 'researching' or working out what I need to put into the blogpost I unitask ... my mind wanders sometimes, but essentially I do the one thing and I mull if necessary ..
I certainly couldn't do what you do!!! Cheers Hilary
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