Trying to control water with a broom or multitasking

The YAVs been here in Korea for six weeks.  Language studies, children's center assignments, church groups, field trips...  All these while battling the initial onset of homesickness, exhaustion from nonstop activities during the month of adrenaline rush,  and changing weather is a lot of load for anyone.  It is a major task for a 64 year old who has been doing it for at least thirty years, but for those on the fresh side of twenty somethings... O Lord have mercy!!!

They have been remarkable troopers taking on tasks they are put to regardless of their talents or lack thereof.  But there is a method to this madness.  Successful multi-tasking requires a common thread that runs through all seemingly different tasks. Until we find the thread, keep working is like trying to control water by sweeping it with a broom.  We think we are pushing water in one direction only to find it rushing to another unintended direction.  We keep sweeping, yet we are not making any progress.

The solution is in pulling, not pushing water.  We need to find the center of gravity and nudge the water to the direction of the gravity.  Sometimes, the center of gravity is the unique personal talent and other times it is in the nature of the tasks at hand.  When the talent and task gravity centers match, it is the best job in the world.

My assignments for the Presbyterian Church (USA) are all over the lot.  Some say I am a disaster specialist (in assisting, not in causing I hope), property person, finance expert, trouble shooter, trouble maker or mediator.  I am sure there are a few more terms said in my absence.  Sometimes I take on many of these roles concurrently.  A coffee mug says "multitasking is a sure way to screw up both jobs".  The challenge is that we cannot always avoid multitasking, and we cannot avoid screwing up all the jobs, not for long anyway.

Allow me to share some tips that I don't practice well, but keep trying.

• Try to find a big picture that can hold multiple tasks we are involved in.  The remaining tasks should be dropped or the picture needs to be adjusted to include them.  Dropping some off the list is not a proof of failure, but keeping them assures failure.
• Are you comfortably in the picture or is it a wrong picture for you?  Think of your long-term goals and see if it is a goal mismatch or you just need to develop skill sets to be compatible with the picture.  If it is a goal mismatch, be prepared to walk away.
• Set benchmarks and develop ways to check the progress. If you don't know where you are going, you are never lost, but you won't ever get there either.
• What are the activities or relationships that runs through most of the tasks?  Can you handle them all on your own, or do you need others' help?
• Trust others and share the responsibilities.  TRUST and do not micromanage.
• Do not be overly anxious about setbacks, that's life.  My GPS navigation machine always points me to the new route to the destination when I go off the original route.
• Do not be concerned about getting credit personally, it destroys relationships.  When the tasks become more important than the people, the costs are more than the benefits.

Rabi Hillel, a Jewish sage of many years ago, spoke to my heart as I was starting my career as an accounting professor;
"If I am not for myself, then WHO is for me?  But, if I am not for others, then WHAT am I?"

Our American culture has and will teach us plenty about the "WHO" question.  The YAVs are seeking the answers to the "WHAT" question this year, and the struggles of these days will contribute to their quest.  I am sure it is in the big picture since God built us in His image.