XCIII: Compartmentalizing and Multitasking

I'm the type of person who is constantly ruminating. Sometimes I think about something stupid I did nine years ago, sometimes I think about something stupid I should have done nine years ago, and sometimes I wish I paid a bit more attention to what someone was saying while I was busy thinking about A or B (or, let's face it, trying to decipher and/or pinpoint the foreign mumblings of a tourist in my immediate proximity). I'm being self-contradictory because not long ago I said not to dwell on the what-ifs. La donna è mobile, ragazzi. Women are fickle. Deal with it.

In high school I thought I had the ability to multitask. Back then, multitasking for me was defined as using an online messaging system (ICQ, MSN, etc.) while listening to some Napster-downloaded music on my Winamp player. Silly Giosy, that kind of multitasking is for kids.

Now I'm exposed to a world where people are in a constant state of multitasking and I can't keep up. I sound like an old fogey! E.g. on the bus, I can either:

• Listen to my iPod and look out the window
• Listen to my iPod and pretend to be asleep*
• Listen to my iPod and fall asleep
• Either of the above and sporadic texting
• All of the above without iPod
• Read a book and/or Metro newspaper (with capability of sporadic texting); on a good day, do most of the crossword

*NB. This is to avoid making unnecessary eye contact, which I classify as all eye contact with strangers.

But there are people (especially at work) who juggle a few full-time careers--one of those possibly being motherhood--who are almost always reachable by email via Blackberry and can make important decisions with the big picture in mind, as well as full knowledge of the little details. I am in awe of these people. And I understand that it takes a certain drive to do this, as well as life experience and education, but it still fascinates me how smart and up-to-date these people are. 

Similarly, I have friends who manage to balance school, work, relationships (both platonic and non) while excelling in each field. I don't know how they do it. In university, I was never the type to volunteer, work x jobs, maintain my friendships, and do well in school. I just focused on getting good grades while working a part-time job. And when I studied, I needed complete silence. (Enter Koerner Library...)

Then again, having a full spectrum of people in the world rather than just the multitaskers or ruminators is important. I've been reading Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, and, if I remember tomorrow, I will tell you about the personality types he believes are important in spreading information and causing social epidemics. 

Cliffhanger!

PS. Though I admire the savvy leaders of any organization, I can state with conviction that I do not want to have a career in which work-life and home-life are not clearly delineated. What started my writing tonight was the fact that I kept thinking about a mistake I made at work today. Oh, Ms. Frizzle, why can't I learn from you? You always said "Take Chances, Make Mistakes, Get Messy!" You should've also added "Fuggedaboutit".