Monotasking- Sarah Anne Semke

Monotasking is a procedure I am not very familiar with. Between living in a dorm full of friends always dropping by, my phone, my ipad, my computer, and my planner, I feel as though I never actually slow down and focus on one task at a time. When I first watched the video and read the assignment to take the time to go about an activity by “monotasking,” I thought, hey, how hard could it actually be. Little did I know, it would feel almost handicapping at first. I decided to put away and turn off all distractions, sit on my couch and read a book. The only times I’ve been able to truly enjoy a book without distractions is when I am at the beach. The idea of being able to feel that peace and serenity I feel reading a book at the beach recreated in my dorm room sounded like a fantastic idea. However, when I boxed up my distractions, locked the door and sat in silence reading my book, it felt beyond strange. I was almost fidgety and anxious when I first began to read. However, when I pushed out the stress of not being able to text, email, or check twitter and focused on the simplicity and peace of reading a book I felt great. I sat on the couch and read this book for about an hour. When I was finished and had to head to class, I felt so refreshed and recharged. Though this was a great experience, I’m not sure it is something I could commit to in all activities. I am the kind of person who likes to be busy and have lots to accomplish, I like to meet deadlines early and work efficiently, which usually means multitasking to get everything done. Because of my rather high strung tendencies sometimes it is good for me to have an hour or two of monotasking every once in a while to destress and slow down a bit.