Multi-tasking is normally one of my strengths.  Juggling major projects and deadlines in the corporate world was exciting and I enjoyed the challenge. 

 After I had children, I took my multi-tasking to new heights – maybe the demands of my new job as a mom weren’t quite as intellectually stimulating as my old job, but I became an expert at doing more than 2 things at once, while taking care of 3 kids. Making dinner, feeding a baby and explaining “why the sky was blue” to another child at the same time were all just parts of my normal balancing act.

As the kids got older and I started working from home, I fine-tuned my multi-tasking skills even more.  You really learn to get organized when you have to, and I developed systems for keeping up with things at home: meal planning, grocery shopping, housework, scheduling – while keeping my business “to-do” lists separate from home life. 

So why do I feel like I just can’t juggle as many things now?  My kids are older and more independent (my oldest doesn’t even live at home full-time), I’m not as involved in their school activities (no classroom moms in high school), two of my three kids drive so I’m not playing “chauffeur” as much…what happened to my multi-tasking skills?

Yes, I have to admit I’m getting older so maybe I can blame a mid-life crisis.  But I think the real culprit is – the Internet.

As the Internet continues to grow and more of my business takes place online, my ability to multi-task is just not keeping up!  I think it’s because the Internet and social media require an entirely new set of multi-tasking skills – and I certainly haven’t mastered those yet! 

Between email, friend requests, online advertising, tweets, blogging, forums, connections…I’m feeling just a bit overwhelmed on what to do first and how much time to spend on every social media platform out there!

I remind my (laughing) kids that when I was growing up, there were only a few ways to communicate with people: face-to-face, phone calls (1 land line, no call waiting, no cordless handset) and written letters.  That was it!  Now I realize just how many different ways I can communicate with people and keeping up with all those different outlets has my head spinning!

So I’ve realized that I’m going to have to develop a system and strategy for managing my online communication, just like I have strategies for handling other parts of my business, my home and my family’s school, sports and social schedules. 

Here are a few strategies I’ve come up with so far:

• Set a timer for general online “surfing” to keep me focused (and prevent me from losing track of time and burning my bagel in the toaster like I did this morning!).
• Make a weekly plan with a day-to-day schedule for social media and online communication to help me keep track of posts, ads, articles and such.
• Set aside time for using social media for “fun” and keep that separate from my online business tasks to help me balance my work and my life.

Maybe just the realization that I’ve got to take my multi-tasking skills up a notch with the Internet and social media will be a great start for taking control of the many new responsibilities I find myself balancing now.

Let me know if you’ve got any good strategies for multi-tasking!