Malaise of multitasking

I have often been plagued with a persistent question, whenever I found myself with just one task on my hand. Is this the best I can do at this very moment? Should I be doing something more, something better perhaps? I think this is the result of constant multitasking in my life.

Multitasking basically means carrying out two or more things at the same time (by the same person). As far as I can remember, I have been multitasking even before the term became fashionable.

 I have been studying while working and working while I should have been studying. Net effect, I started working quite early in life and continued to write exams well past my thirties.When I should have been studying without a care, I was constantly worried if I would get a good job. When I was well-placed, I continued studying as I was not sure if I was qualified enough.

 I never felt the significance of multitasking until I became a mother. After motherhood, time takes a new dimension in your life. For once you are forced to acknowledge that time is not within your control. As you grapple with the new situation, you realise that everyone but you has an opinion about 'your time'. People develop great interest in your free time once you become a mother of a child. You are advised to sleep when the baby sleeps, or do something else (productive) while the baby sleeps. No one ever lets you just watch your baby sleep....lest you enjoy the whole experience.

I am not good at multitasking and its taken me this long to realise it. At the cost of effectiveness, I have only experienced tiredness and fatigue. Its not even physical tiredness as much as mental fatigue. So here I am, not multitasking any more. I have decided to enjoy the present moment for what it is without thinking or planning about the future.