Multi-tasking

I used to think I was good at multi-tasking. Doing a different number of things at the same time. Like talking on the phone and typing, managing a few computer windows concurrently, thinking about what to write in my FYP report when playing Tumblebugs, talking to Dawn while playing the piano, and watching TV while eating and reading a book (yes this is what I can do very well indeed).

But oh! Doing things in the lab just made me realize that I'm actually Level Noob in multi-tasking. A very humbling experience, and a good one too, as all humbling experiences are to me.

Today I was just asked to manage only two things concurrently, and I messed up a step in one of them. Although it was not something un-redeemable, and was easily rectified, it was a process that I've already run many times. And this was just with two (familiar) jobs on hand, and me still feeling in control, meaning I wasn't panicking or rushing or compelled with any emotions that leave my mind blank. Sadly whenever I'm pressured for time, and a number of things descend on me on the spot, my mind just blacks out and reels and doesn't now what to do next.

Well, today I made a mistake without being in that state of mind. Wonder what'd happen if it was something more important and I am on the verge of blacking out. (According to yesterday's training, this is called 'cognitive loading', and I suppose my load threshold is pretty small.) And initially I thought I could even take on one additional task on top of whatever I already had in hand.

Four months in this job has revealed to me the limitations of my multi-tasking abilities. I realize that I can multi-task quite decently when I am localized positionally (meaning I don't need to move around); but when I'm running around different rooms handling different stuff at the same time, I might forget things.

And how do I overcome this? My workload is already much lighter than all my colleagues, and I only have to account for myself mainly. How do I cope if one day I must manage running several different processes plus ad-hoc work plus checking on other people? How do I increase my cognitive loading threshold besides familiarizing myself with things? Sometimes there's no time to go through everything mentally beforehand like what I'm used to doing now to spot difficulties before they arise.

I need more practice and I hope I have the luxury of time for that before the lab gets really busy. And I'm really thankful to God for this training ground in things I'm weak at. I'm already better at my hands-on routine tests; now it's the mental part that is challenging.