If the Internet Can’t Multitask, Why Should You?
Our lord and savior, the internet, works in mysterious ways.
Ok, they’re not that mysterious. The inner workings of the internet are still pretty complex. Yet, the basics are simple.
When you do anything on the internet, you’re asking servers to deliver data to your computer. This data comes in the form of packets. So, whenever you ask for information online, the server breaks up that information into little packets. The servers then send these packets over, one by one to your computer. Your computer then reassembles them on the toher side as visual information.
The computers understand all the bits and bytes, but they’ll do you a favor and convert them into information you can consume. Think of it like Amazon Prime Super Information Delivery where everything is delivered instantly. Computers are on a constant spending splurge, buying information from other computers around them.
Even if your only contribution to the internet is a snide internet comment, it still has to be broken up into tiny little pieces and reassembled. If all the wonderful creative work that lives on the internet is a perfectly functioning Star Trek teleporter, the comment sections are the teleporter machines from The Fly.
My thoughts about internet trolls notwithstanding, think about that. The most advanced thing mankind has ever created and it still has to do its work one thing at a time.
And you wonder why your app/novel/musical/symphony/painting doesn’t appear immediately without you needing to put in the work?
The hubris!
Your creativity works the same way. In regular bursts of work that eventually make up a creative whole.
If you break it down, a work of art doesn’t happen in a day. The work might manifest itself in your mind during a burst of inspiration. But the hard part is making it exist in the real world where other people can enjoy it.
The only way to get from inspiration to real output is to break down the vision in your head into manageable tasks.
For instance, a song isn’t just a song. A song is a story with an organized structure of verses, choruses and the occasional bridge. If you want to tell the story you have in your head, it needs to fit into the structure. The lyrics need to fit the melody and the meter. Thinking about it that way, you have limitations to work within. Counter to what you might think, those limitations make the job easier. If you take most of the options off the table, you’ll have an easier job of making the necessary decisions to get things done.
The same can be said about writing a novel. A novel needs characters. It needs an arc. It needs some sort of struggle. It needs a beginning, middle, and an end. Whatever your creative venture is, decide on its limitations and work within that.
Working within those tasks, it becomes easier to break the necessary tasks down. Just like the internet, you can’t do all these things at the same time. You need to break the packets down and tackle them in a logical manner. Don’t start writing a song by starting with the guitar solo you want to showcase in the middle. Start with the story. Start with the chord progression. Start with the song structure.
Once you’ve broken things down into manageable tasks, prioritize them to create a timeline. For instance, if I want to produce a song, I don’t start with setting up the microphones to record the drums. I start with the basics of the songwriting. I’ll start by writing a song that works without drums, or any production whatsoever. It has to stand on its own with a voice and an accompanying instrument. The melody must convey the musical message of the story and the story must make sense. Or, it must at least make as much sense as I want it to. Only then can I continue the production process. It’s pointless to move things forward if you haven’t finished the previous priorities.
The same goes with writing in general. Writing articles doesn’t just happen. Writers don’t sit down and regurgitate articles without effort. Writers usually have a more methodical process. Mine is a three-stage process.
1. Collecting ideas
I have a list in Wunderlist where I post all ideas for future articles. These lists are full or random thoughts. Ideas I’ve had while talking to people or funny situations I’ve thought up in the moment. Anything that piques my interest during the day gets written up as a potential article. For certain things, the initial note in Wunderlist is enough to get me started, but other ideas need more work. That’s why the next stage is so important.
2. Writing outlines
Once I have enough ideas I can start outlining the larger ideas into articles. A new habit I’m developing is scheduling a block of time every Monday where I outline five articles for the week. That way, I have a constant repository of ideas I can tap into for my daily writing routine. Unfortunately, I may not like all the articles I write. And they may not get published. But writing is a muscle that you need to exercise, regardless of whether you publish the fruits of your labor.
3. Writing
This is the hardest part, and usually the part creatives hate the most. Creatives love the act of “having created” but they hate the creative process itself. When you get down to the bare bones of it, it’s exhausting and annoying work. It takes discipline and a work ethic that’s simultaneously keeping yourself free from procrastination while guarding your creative brain from inner doubt. In internet-analogy terms, that work ethic is one tough Firewall to crack.
The Internet Can’t Multi-Task. Why Should You?
If you consistently chip away at your projects, sooner or later, you’ll finish. But if you overanalyze and hyperventilate over the enormity of the creative work, nothing will ever happen. The internet sends billions of data packets over the internet at each fraction of a second. Even though they’re sent at lightning speeds, they all arrive one at at time. You may not be lightning fast and your art certainly won’t magically appear at the click of a button. But you can focus on doing your work one packet at a time. You have to create it, one packet of creativity at a time.
Sooner or later, you’ll put it together.
tl;dr
1. The internet does everything one piece of data at a time.
2. How can you break down the tasks of your creative work. What’s the logical order towards completion.
3. How can you schedule those tasks to a schedule.
4. What’s the least you can do to feel like you’re making progress?
4. How can you create your Firewall? What tactics can you use to cut distractions and make progress.
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