I discovered – or rediscovered – an important truth this week: uni-tasking is better than multi-tasking. I rediscovered this important truth while I was reading a book at home. For some reason, the thought came to me, as I opened the book one evening and began reading, that I should read slowly, carefully, and thoughtfully – that I should read each word, and even re-read some sentences and paragraphs, if I wished to. So I did. I took my time, didn’t listen to music while I read, and even wrote some notes in the margin as I went along. What I realized, after thirty minutes or so, was that I was thoroughly enjoying the reading, much more than usual, and that I was retaining far more of what I read than I usually do. I realized that I was having a total, all-encompassing, comprehensive experience. I was focusing on one task, aiming every bit of my concentration at one activity, and was getting immense pleasure from it. Later, I began to wonder if I could extend this to other areas of life. Could I make this kind of uni-tasking a habit? What would happen, I asked myself, if I actually gave all of my attention to whatever single task I was doing in any present moment?
What would happen would probably be an utter miracle, a total transformation of my life.
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