Isn't it interesting how time changes meanings? A couple of decades ago we coined the phrase "multitasking" to justify, even encourage, having our plates over loaded. Instead of acknowledging our inability or unwillingness to finish one project at a time, we adopted a new paradigm...compartmentalize tasks by their importance, urgency or pleasure and pick them off in random order.
The danger in this new paradigm of multi-tasking is thought., or lack thereof. I can sit at my desk creating this article (important), taking a phone call from the mechanic working on my car (urgent), answering a text message from my wife (always important and urgent), eating a mid-morning snack, (desirable) with CNBC on the TV (not necessary until they say something profound...rarely.)
Multi-tasking has become normal. So has A.D.D., Attention Deficit Disorder, which is no surprise. Why? The more we practice and execute something, the more skilled we become at it., even if it is counter productive.
So far this spring, I have hit an estimated 5,000 golf balls at the driving range. That practice and repetition is making me a better golfer, (not good, but better.) For 40 years I have evaluated, analyzed and forecasted the lumber market. That frequent, daily execution made me a very good lumber trader and an expert lumber market analyst. Likewise, I suspect through daily repetition I have self-inflicted the medical condition A.D.D., or in Layman's terms, I have mastered the art of Multi-tasking. Put another way, I am proficient at giving compartmentalized spurts of effort to completing several different tasks simultaneously, sometimes doing none of them to the best of my ability. An accomplished professional multi-tasker never faces an empty plate and seldom ever a half empty plate.
Therein lies the danger of multi-tasking...fluffing up one's perceived self-worth based upon workload. Workload includes occupation, family, and personal responsibilities. Multi-tasking can sometimes be just an excuse for doing many things poorly and nothing proficiently.
Let's take a cue from Smokey the Bear and Nancy Reagan. Only You Can Just Say No. Scrape the garbage off the plate...and don't replace it. Do fewer things better.
Happy Trading, ML