Turn Off, Tune In, Be Present

In this age of digital onslaught, I need to tell myself to “be present” on a regular basis, and diligently hold to what that means.

I have many interests. I also have four wonderful kids and a wife, each with a multitude of interests. I am often guilty of saying yes to everything and trying to accommodate all of those interests along with other responsibilities, all at the same time. Sometimes I am amazed that I can do it, but other times I have failed, or burned myself out.

What I have noticed is that I am able to do fewer things, and certainly less efficiently, when I try to juggle too many of them at the same time. When I first sat down to write this blog, I had not yet picked a topic. I sat in front of the TV watching my beloved Maple Leafs play against the Bruins in the Stanley Cup playoffs. All four of my kids (6, 7, 10, 12) were sitting with me ready to engage about the game and sit with me, discuss with me, cheer with me, cry with me (as it turned out with the Leafs getting shellacked), and simply just be together.

I caught myself sitting with a laptop on my lap instead of a few kids, my phone in my hand, and the remote control in the other hand. I missed the first two goals as I started a few times on the blog, only to delete what was not very good anyway. Instead of efficiently multitasking and completing a bunch of things at once, not even one thing was actually accomplished. I wish I had a picture of that scene—something to look back at as a reminder of what not to do.

I actually laughed when I realized what I was doing. I was there, but not present.

Our jobs with CLAC as a labour organization require a lot of juggling of priorities and competing interests. There seems to be more demands of our time, and more ways of getting a hold of us wherever we are (email, other email, desk phone, cell phone, texting, BBM, IM, etc.). As I strive to be present at home, I also want to be present at work for my colleagues and our members.

I think it is important to shut down some modes of communication at times in order to focus on one. Leave your cell phone in your office when you attend the next staff meeting or video conference. Go on a site visit and engage with members, and put your phone on silent and out of reach so that you can focus on those right in front of you. No matter who you are or how skilled you are at multitasking, you cannot do it all at once.

Give yourself a break and be actively present with what is right in front of you. This topic and these suggestions may seem quite rudimentary and rather obvious, but I know at least one person who needs to take it to heart and continue to improve in this area.  (Pssst….it’s me!)