Go shopping or browsing for IT devices and you will find a great deal of them tout the ability of their product to allow the user to multi-task. Their suggestion is that multi-tasking is a normal function of the human being and their product will help you do it better. This buzz-word has been around for a long time. It started in the mid 1960’s when computer processing was being developed and the sales pitch for the computer was that multiple tasks could be performed at the same time. That concept bled over to tasks performed by human beings and when the economy was challenging, employees were encouraged to multi-task.
The multi-tasking concept has spread to all aspects of our lives. Have you ever been sitting at a stop light when the car in front of you doesn’t move at the green light because they are still looking down at their phone? Attempted multi-tasking of driving and reading. It’s not really working out for motor vehicle safety.
There are articles out recently that discuss something more beneficial than multi-tasking. Mindfulness training. This concept suggests mindfulness training is learning to be totally focused on one thing at a time, and the facts that apply to what is being done. Psychologists studying this concept are saying the process of being present and focusing on one thing, has improved problem solving, reduced errors, decreased stress and improved situational awareness. These improvements in performance were found in subjects who were both rested and tired. Driving with your phone put away is an example of mindfulness so you can concentrate on driving and that alone.
The research also suggests that the improvements at work from mindfulness training were also beneficial for subjects in their personal lives. This training is getting traction in both the public and private sectors. The military is looking at mindfulness training for troops prior to deployment and as a treatment for PTSD.
With mindfulness training gaining so much traction and proving to be beneficial in so many professions, how long until the fire service gets involved with a program that could be beneficial to their members? We train regularly to be proficient and accurate in our jobs, perhaps mindfulness training could be incorporated to help with that goal. The next time you go shopping or browsing for a class, consider one on mindfulness training.
The Third Bugle 