I’ve always heard that saying, “women are natural multitaskers.” As a woman myself, I just can’t relate. Juggling multiple things simultaneously? Never been my forte (learned that one the hard way). Anyway, it’s likely just a stereotype I don’t need getting worked up over. Let’s be real — strong scientific backing for that statement is still lacking. Why even bother?
But my mind did get bothered. 🥲👍That’s why this writing is up online.
Nyoman Nuarta’s dynamical-fluid-like sculpture.
Is a multitasking mastery even something to aspire to?
When I peer more closely at those I admire, their excellence doesn’t emerge from spreading shallow efforts across a thousand fronts. Rather, it blossoms from immense depth in focused domains — craftspeople, scholars, even politicians devoted to perfecting specialized crafts through monotasked practice and presence.
Maybe in my younger days the cultural glorification of “doing it all” lured me into chasing an illusion — the myth that simultaneously juggling multiple pursuits is even viable, let alone desirable. As finite beings, our cognitive reserves deplete rapidly when dispersed too thin. Trying to keep a dozen balls in the air will inevitably mean dropping several.
And I think I’ve dropped balls quite a lot to be able to acknowledge that.
Singular Depth Trumps Scattered Breadth (?)
Reality is, even for those who seem “multitasking” masters, the wonder doesn’t happen through simultaneity. It emerges from skillful context shifting. Look closely — no one actually does multiple complex efforts concurrently. The results we admire bloom from dedicating laser-focused concentration into one priority at a time, then seamlessly flowing that full-force energy into the next when circumstances shift.
From this perspective, the capacity for deep work (as Cal Newport popularize it) — plunging wholly into one pursuit at a time— begins to look less like a personal failing and more like a potent strength to cultivate. By working within our cognitive constraints rather than railing against them, we can channel maximum impact into well-prioritized domains sequentially.
It’s a Prophetic Practice, After All
This philosophy of successively devoting attention into one sphere before flowing that undivided energy into the next resonates with the way of being embodied by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). ==Accounts depict how when engaged in conversation, he would turn his entire body to face his listener. No residual distraction, no fracturing of presence — just complete absorption in that person through investment of his total faculties.==
In prophetic tradition, this exemplifies the artistry of monotasking before context shifting. For those blessed moments of interaction, his consciousness would envelop itself fully around that soul, without any competing leakage of attention elsewhere. Only once that encounter reached its organic conclusion would he apply that same totality of presence into the next matter at hand.
Also, his notion of sequentially flowing immersive energies from one zone to the next resonates profoundly with the cadence of shalat (ritual prayers) that punctuate my days as a Muslim. Each call to prayer demands I rapidly pivot from whatever my previous engagement, monotasking with absolute presence into an experience of worship. Focusing my attention into that singular devotional context, uncompromised by fragmentation or slack focus, is itself a spiritual practice in harnessing concentration. Each time worldly matter slip into my consciousness, the next Allahu Akbar is a punchy reminder that my Lord is the only Greater Thing worth being attended to at the moment.
The transition out of prayer creates another intentional shifting of modalities — emerging back into daily pursuits, but now from an intentionally monotasked headspace of profound presence. Rather than fracturing my energies across a disparate multitude of “open tabs,” shalat choreographs a ritual cycle of:
Monotasking → Context Shifting → Monotasking Anew
It’s a ceaseless strengthening of the very skill I’m aiming to embody more holistically in life: the ability to pour my entire being into one priority at a time, followed by skillfully transitioning that whole-hearted channeling into the next noble endeavor.
Integrating Principle and Practice
So where does this leave me in terms of time/energy management and prioritization? In many ways, it’s an invitation to ruthlessly edit my checklist of commitments and projects to include only what can receive my fullest bandwidth at any given phase. Rather than struggling with juggling perfectionism, I’m learning to monotask with absolute presence in each successive priority that arises.
For relationships, this might mean some connections waxing and waning organically in intensity over time based on our intersecting life seasons. However, for those in my closest circle, it frees me to invest far more quality presence — unrushed hangouts, deeply engaging conversations, active listening without the restlessness of trying to keep other social plates spinning.
In my work endeavors, it empowers me to sequence projects or “deep work” sessions in chunked batches of monotasked hyperfocus, separating each into containers of full-attention rather than hazardously context-switching between them all day in disorganized fragmentation.
My spiritual practice is no longer separate from this integration. With the cadence of shalat, I receive five built-in daily resets to interrupt any burgeoning haze of multitasking malaise. Each prayer is a rewiring of my neural circuitry back into the flow state of monotasking before I transition that unlocked energy into its next dedicated container of application. The rituals don’t compete with my other pursuits — they actively strengthen my abilities to prosecute each with undivided airtime.
Be Sensible
At my current stage of life, it’s a sensible thing to embrace the philosophy of monotasking interlaced with deliberate context transitions into my daily life. Will this stance evolve as new seasons emerge? Maybe, but less likely. But I’m still open to new perspectives and experiences. The coming years may unravel unexpected circumstances that demand a different style and approach. Perhaps, future expansions in personal bandwidths and resources will make juggling between more paralleled projects feel more sustainable. But… let’s be sensible at the moment.
I know I’ve been trying too hard to incorporate diverse lots of vocabularies here and that might itch you a little bit! I’m sorry but not sorry ’cause it’s a fun experimentation!