Are your days filled with a succession of mundane activities that leave you feeling unsatisfied, your attention easily shifting through a multitude of errands? And let’s not talk about the numerous tasks that seem to absorb your attention with that can’t-fight-the-urge kind of mode.

“One worthwhile task carried to a successful conclusion is worth half-a-hundred half-finished tasks.” These are the words of Malcolm S. Forbes, who may well have been on the right track to understanding the kind of society we find ourselves in.

Today people’s lives all around the world are consumed by the accessibility of communication technologies, creating a generation inherently unable to focus on the significant tasks at hand.

The average person sends and receives multiple text messages through the course of a day, checks their email every few hours and changes their Facebook status at least once a day; not to mention that these activities are all done while at work, while driving or even when out to dinner with friends. It is like an addiction - focus on our daily tasks is constantly being disrupted by a compulsion to veer from one activity to the next.

While many may call this the ability to multitask, what does it mean for our future? Without even realising it, our attention span is being curbed by every decision we make. As a society filled with jumping-jacks who veer from one input to the next, we are beginning to create a culture of impatience.

Tom Alderman of the Huffington Post noted that as each generation emerges, media commentators have labelled them according to the dominant characteristics of the group. He proposes that the current age may well be called the “ADD generation”.

The notion of an ADD generation evolves around the medical condition Attention Deficit Disorder, characterised by a persistent pattern of inattention, impulsiveness, and unfulfilled desires. People who suffer from ADD have difficulty focusing on one thing at a time and are consumed by a constant feeling of anxiety. This is the very nature of the behaviour echoed in our lives today.

Has anyone ever considered that the very order we seek through our persistent multitasking may be the cause of chaos in our lives?

The great philosopher Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do”. In this attention deficient world, we jump so fast trying to keep up with the times that we forget to assess the consequences of a hasty decision. Our existence is being consumed by this constant urge to overcompensate.

Our actions are still the guiding force in determining our quality of life and we need to learn to cherish the “now” in our lives. Living in this fast-paced world, it’s hard sometimes to just sit back and enjoy the gifts of life. So how do we do this?

The idea is to slow down but always to remain proactive. The simplest way is to manage your time:

• Prioritise by making a to-do-list and sticking to it. Identify the tasks at hand in order of importance and set out a time limit. Be realistic about the time given to each task while ensuring their completion before moving along.

• Do not beat yourself up and rush around trying to complete unfulfilled goals, as this behaviour will defeat the purpose. Forward planning is important and can help to ensure an efficient schedule. You should never try to juggle more than you can handle.

• Be sure to postpone any unnecessary activities. If you feel something insignificant is taking up too much time, push it aside for another day. Understand that you cannot accomplish everything in one go and remember the words of Forbes: it is better to have one job completed than multiple tasks half done.

• Always make time for loved ones. This should be an important factor in your list of priorities. Family and friends are life’s key to a healthy mind. Relationships provide us with support and a sense of being needed, and they create balance in our lives. Try turning off your cell phone when out with friends and enjoy the moment. Successful interpersonal relationships can help to manage stress.

Maybe, just maybe, there could be a way in which future generations will learn to develop the survival skills needed to adapt to this accelerating growth of communication technologies. We might do well to slow down and be conscious of the time that passes us by.

About the author: Genevieve is a freelance writer, copy editor and photographer from Johannesburg. She has an honours degree in journalism from the University of Johannesburg, and works closely with women and health issues, as well as writing music reviews. She is a junkie of photography and writing and aspires one day to write a book.

• Add New

Comments (0)

Write comment

Name:

Email: do not notifynotify

Website:

Title:

Message:

Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.