You CAN multi-task

I’ve gotten fond of saying I don’t multi-task well, and generally speaking it’s true. When I sit down and my desk to do a thing, if I try to do another thing it generally does not go well. Neither thing gets done or it take a lot longer than it should. You’ll always get sucked into things and have to pivot to a higher priority, but I would argue that planned multi-tasking is a bad idea.

Unless…

Mixing running with books and prayer has been a game changer for me over the last two years. That was not in the original plan. Running and reading were separate, unrelated goals and I’d generally listen to any random thing when I was out running. Then, somewhere along the way, shortly after Covid sent us home for good, I realized that audiobooks were a great complement to running. My first three were The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday, 1984 (for the umpteenth time) and Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (odd story).

And then I added prayer to the mix. That’s an ongoing journey and I’ll share more on that another time. It’s good for me, though. I get distracted sometimes, but I’ve read books on prayer and it’s not uncommon for the author to admit to losing focus or dozing off, which does not happen when running. So I figure it’s ok.

The lesson, of course, is that if two activities complement one another (physical and mental activities) vs competing for the same scarce resources (your energy and attention, like working on slides and engaging in a meeting) doing both can be very effective, especially if your mental energy would otherwise be squandered.

And now for a book note. I am about three quarters of the way through The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory by Stephanie Kelton. It’s challenging, good and well-written. Kelton is a PhD economist with experience in politics and academia. She comes at things from a little left of center to be sure, but she is critical of how both parties address the issues of spending and deficits. Regarding Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), she makes the argument that sovereign currency issuers like the US and Great Britain cannot “run out of money” because they can issue the currency to pay their debts. It gives you a lot to think about and I am not sure I buy into all of it, but it is an interesting contrast to the idea of comparing the federal budget to a household or even state budget. Apples and snowmobiles. She has a good writing style and includes references to Milton Friedman (increase shareholder value), Buzz Lightyear (to infinity...) and many others. 4/5 so far.

And finally, speaking of monetary policy, this meme made me literally laugh out loud. Star Wars was my first PG movie and I vividly remember the Death Star blowing Alderaan to kingdom come.?