Hyper-focused Multi-tasking

Monday Missives #19

Jun 02, 2025

The below is based on a transcript of me speaking this post into the Otter transcription app while I took my second walk of the day for my mental health.

I am not a fan of AI, and I do not use any of the Chat whatever the hells because I do not want to feed the machine with my words. And while some writers might say that using this app means I did not write this post much like some readers would say that listening to an audiobook means I did not read the book (never mind that many people process information differently and all of these tools are wonderful accommodations for anyone with a disability or someone who is any kind of neuro spicy), I do use this transcription app (which is technically AI except that it does not feed into the big AI in the sky or in the server farm) when I need to kickstart my writing or if I am driving and I have an idea, phrase or thought that I cannot write down because, well, I am driving. And of course, I also use it, sometimes, when I am walking or sitting out back in the sun on a my patio chair. In fact, I use it like my Notes app into which I type when I walk and that counts as writing, right?

Whatever you make of all that, all the words below are my own and definitely not generated by a machine. I rewrote a few bits and moved some things around (yep, I did some editing), but mainly kept it as it flowed out of me.

Screenshot of the start of my transcript.

Okay, so I'm doing multitasking. I have a post to write, but I've been spending most of today and yesterday [audio] editing episodes of the podcast and studying for my somatic practitioner program, because I have class next week in person, (which I'm super excited about), and I'm leaving town to go up there for that, and to spend some time with my bestie who lives in the area. After that, I'm driving around parts of upstate New York, possibly also and definitely Long Island and maybe even the city, to record more episodes, or at least, meet up with people to discuss recording an episode with them. I am also working on the book proposal for my completed memoir and that includes a marketing plan and plan for building…Oh, it is a full time, jam-packed thing I am doing and some days, I'm really struggling to balance the different head spaces between writing, recording and editing (words and audio)—

Side note: There is something about editing (Ed. Note: especially audio) that really appeals to the kind of ADD that I have. I love tasks where I have to hyper focused, get really nitty gritty and lose myself in the minutia of it (for hours). It is very relaxing to me. It also takes a lot of time.

—between booking and scheduling, between getting the word out and copy writing, between ideating a marketing plan and picking out sample chapters, between planning my travel and lining up people and places—I'm having…it's just…I am wearing a lot of different hats.

And I love it. All of it. Because I am a multi-tasker.

Getting ready to go for a walk but not before I take a quick mirror selfie on top of my walking pad that I still have not used in the winter but I love to use as a podium or shelf space for random items.

Refer a friend

And then—get this: at least three different people (which, you know, when it comes in threes, it means you gotta pay attention) have asked me when I'm going to do a workshop. One of those people offered me a beautiful house in the Outer Banks (NC) to host a workshop in the off season. The other person suggested I do it at my house. And the third person was like, “Why don't you just do something on Zoom?” And I'm like, good grief people. I mean, I'm all about it, and yes, I would love to do that, but there are two obstacles I can see right now.

One is that I have my hands full with what I'm already doing. My hands are so full that I'm walking and talking into my transcription app so that I can maximize, no, arrange, no, is it maximize, no, it’s arrange (Ed. Note: to understand that throwback, you will want to read last week’s post). Whatever. I am grateful to have the tools to pack in as much as I can, and still take care of myself physically. And mentally. And emotionally. But I don't have enough bandwidth to add something new right now. I don't want squeeze in something, anything, only to do it halfway or kinda sorta (Ed. Note: that’s the Maximizer in me). Or get distracted by it. I have already learned, in my process of building all of this, to take any new idea I have or get told, make a note to self, and then file it away, and put a pin in it.

So, I will sit with the idea of a workshop and just wait and observe. It’s a similar process I had with starting the podcast. I waited until February (Ed. Note: I started thinking about it almost five years ago) to record episodes, because I wasn't ready in September. I needed to sit and marinate a little longer and get some of the “AHHH” (Ed. Note: some of the grief for all the big changes, loss of identity and most of all, loss of my mentor Barbara) out of me. I already know that if it's in the natural course of events, it will become very apparent. Things will start to shift.

After all, that’s how all of this got started in the first place. A year ago today I was up in New England for the weekend with an amazing human whom I love. At the end of our time together (Ed. Note: there may have been tears involved and that’s a story, maybe, for another time), I drove home. During those six hours, I chatted with a bestie of mine, and told her, “I'm already…I'm in a free fall. I'm physically sitting here, in this car, driving towards Virginia, but I am actually internally in a free fall. And the job I'm going back to is actually no longer my job.”

Now, mind you, I didn't know anything concrete about anything that was coming. I had no plans of quitting my job. I just knew it was time to prepare and get my ducks in a row, because the big change I had resisted for months, and to which I started to surrender two weeks earlier in mid-May, was happening. I could feel it. In my bones. And I knew it. In my gut.

So, yeah, it’s not the idea [of a workshop] that’s the problem. The idea is being given to me from three different people who don't even know each other. They each said to me separately, out of nowhere. One of them even said it twice. That’s a message. Because really the idea is to expand what I do now to include things like public speaking or leading a workshop or hosting a this or that. Yeah, that makes. I can see the convergence.

But anyway, I get to…I choose to be realistic, so I will put a pin in that, because I really can't…I mean, my plate is clearly too full. Right?

I’ll work (and break out into a dance) anywhere, including the kitchen. This is also something that helps me ground.

Share The Stories That Sparkle

The other thing (finally, reason #2 of why now is not the time to add leading workshops) is that I'm working on grounding. When I switch gears like this (Ed. Note: between different kinds of tasks and projects), it's really hard for me to stay on the ground. That can be confusing because [five years ago] I was breaking containment and coming out of my shell. Over the last two [almost three] years, I started to work on creating containment. First it was for my big anger and frustration—with and at myself and then others. Then is was for all the excitement around re-discovering life and living, really living. Now it's for my excitement and all my ideas.

It is not suppression. It is not denial of self. It is creating containers for the big energy that bops around in me and pushes me to do twenty things, or that wants me to do twenty things at the same time, or that speeds up and revs up so freaking fast that it's just too much. It's overwhelming to me. I can't imagine it's super fun to be around either. So, for the sake of my well being, and, for the sake of my relationships across the board, it's really important to me to work on this new, deeper level of containment. I know how to grow through the bad and pain. Now I get to learn to grow through the good and the joy. That does not mean shutting it down or not being excited. It means, “How can I ground it so that it's not spinning like a whirling dervish in my head or chest and producing an intense amount of anxiety. How do I ground. More. And in different ways.” And right now, that feels like it means not adding one more thing. Right?

Working out the technical aspects of recording a podcast episode I will do over Zoom into my audio editing software meant being in the same Zoom meeting as Host and Participant. It was a very multi-verse, never mind multi-task, operation.

So, I'm, so anyway, I guess my question is—some of you who are subscribers know me really well, while some of you don't know me at all, and others of you haven't known me for long time or haven’t been around me in a really long time (like decades). So I'm curious, what kind of workshop would you be interested in attending? What would you be interested in hearing me talk about? The natural for me would be to do a workshop that is related to writing. Not about how to write, but about how to use the tool of writing. Writing as a tool. After all, it's the one I use to work things out. (ed. note: like this post for example).

So, so, I don't know. We'll see. More to come on that.

Bye.

Pretty on-point action items that I got from the app. It is like having an assistant…or more like, it turns me into my own assistant which, well, I am!

I do not think you can make more than one selection on this poll sooo…pick your fave and then send me a message or leave a comment with your runner up(s)!

The Stories That Sparkle

Hyper-focused Multi-tasking

Monday Missives #19

Discussion about this post