How Living as a Unitasker Nearly Led Me to Ruin in a Multitasking World

There must have been a time when I could think and write at the same
time... or maybe not. A good part of my childhood was spent in the
mortification of receiving failing grades in handwriting. Still there
was a time when I could read my notes or turn in an assignment that was
at least somewhat legible. (It was mortifying when I failed an English
qualifying test necessary for college placement when my 11th grade
teacher refused to grade my exam and gave me a F saying she couldn't
read it.

Still, somehow I got by for many years. Eventually, I realized I
couldn't think and write at the same time. This meant I really had to
know what I was going to write before I started writing. It required a
good memory and a lot of planning. It required being perfect the first
time because rewriting was so painful.

Then I became a lawyer. In my office our legal analyses had to be
handwritten. The need to know what I was going to say before I started
writing led to much procrastination and fear.

Then in the early '80s word processors and eventually PCs became
ubiquitous. What a relief. At last I could compose with the knowledge
that I could make corrections easily. But with my increased dependence
on the computer, my handwriting deteriorated even further. In college I
could often figure out my notes, but now, I my chicken scratches often
became undecipherable.

More than once I found myself taking notes during a trial. I would
underline and make bold arrows and fill the margins with asterisks to
remind me of questions for cross-examination, but when the time to
examine the witness the notes were as useless as if they had been
written in a foreign alphabet. "No further questions, Your Honor,"
would be all I could say.

At depositions there would be a court reporter so I knew that if
necessary I could get my office to order a transcript. I thought that
perhaps I could use these opportunities to take notes without
pressure. Things would start out well., but after a few lines the
handwriting would deteriorate to its usual useless level.

Then, as lightweight laptops became ubiquitous, I thought perhaps I
could take notes on a computer. But I never really became a touch typist
and I learned that I really can't type and listen at the same time.

I don't want a beautiful handwriting, I don't want awards for my
calligraphy. I just want access to a common tool.

When my daughter was growing up, I used to watch her taking notes with a
kind of jealously. My wife can write notes in the margins and around
the edges of a crumpled piece of paper, cell phone at her ear.

Can you imagine being over 60 a d not knowing the lyrics to all of the
songs of the 50s an d 60s. Imagine not being able to listen to the radio
and study at the same time,

I think I shall found a support group for the multitasking deprived. We
may have Adderall or Concerta and Ritalin, but all we want is to be
able to put a few words on paper in the heat of the moment and to be
able to interpret them five minutes later. and maybe to listen to a
little music on the side. There must be a way for each of us to unite more than one task at a time into a unified life.

(By the way, I suspect there are no real multitaskers, some of us are just able to switch back and forth more quickly.)

Unitaskers, Unite!