Tutuusin na nga
By Carlos A. Arnaldo
Manila
September 16, 2019
Millenials are known for multi-tasking. At my college, students are not only allowed devices in class, they are encouraged to use them, because our classes are online. They download the power points and follow them on their tablets or pc or cp. They search any notes and copy them, they do their assignments and submit their reports and exams online.
Nonetheless, seeing students ticking away at their cell phones during my lectures, I easily get flustered.
Teacher-- Are you watching a movie during my lecture? [mytoneisjustcurious]
Boy student--Sir? [impertinent question!] I am multi-tasking! [feelingself-pride]
Teacher--Are you watching a movie or texting to your friend? [i’llcatchthisone]
Korean girl student--oh no sir! [inallinnocence] I am taking notes on what you said .
It's all here.
Teacher—Oh? [surprised] May I see? [dubious] It’s all in Korean, in very neat characters! How shall I know if it's notes or text to your friend?
Korean girl student-- They are all long paragraphs, Sir, according to what you say or present on Powerpoint. If its chat, it's all short, back and forth, sir. [haha,mychatisonthe nexttab!]
But for us oldies, say 65 and over, we shouldn’t try to compete with the millennials in multi-tasking, even for simple tasks. Our synapses, those connections in the brain through which we command our legs to walk or our fingers to grasp something, or our memory to remind us why we do this or that, are no longer so smoothly connected. May ‘kalawang na,’ may calcium ang mga tubo (our veins and micro-veins).
You bring three glasses from the dining table to the sink and on the way you want to pick up a pen. If you haven’t already dropped one or all the glasses, you get to the sink and ask yourself, now what did I want this pen for?
If you do break a glass or two, clean it up right away. For if you have the habit of walking barefoot, you might get cut or get a piece of broken glass embedded in the sole of your foot and that is very difficult to remove, especially if you cannot bend your legs enough! Often, that is why it is difficult to cut and trim your own toe nails—all the more reason to see a pedicure.
Now where’s that pen? [sometimesthesynapsesworkunexpectedly!]
Takeaway—main point is that as we grow older, we need to focus, start and finish one thing at a time. Our days of facile multi-tasking are quickly coming to a close!
Oldies—multi-tasking and focus!
Manila
September 16, 2019
Millenials are known for multi-tasking. At my college, students are not only allowed devices in class, they are encouraged to use them, because our classes are online. They download the power points and follow them on their tablets or pc or cp. They search any notes and copy them, they do their assignments and submit their reports and exams online.
Nonetheless, seeing students ticking away at their cell phones during my lectures, I easily get flustered.
Teacher-- Are you watching a movie during my lecture? [mytoneisjustcurious]
Boy student--Sir? [impertinent question!] I am multi-tasking! [feelingself-pride]
Teacher--Are you watching a movie or texting to your friend? [i’llcatchthisone]
Korean girl student--oh no sir! [inallinnocence] I am taking notes on what you said .
It's all here.
Teacher—Oh? [surprised] May I see? [dubious] It’s all in Korean, in very neat characters! How shall I know if it's notes or text to your friend?
Korean girl student-- They are all long paragraphs, Sir, according to what you say or present on Powerpoint. If its chat, it's all short, back and forth, sir. [haha,mychatisonthe nexttab!]
But for us oldies, say 65 and over, we shouldn’t try to compete with the millennials in multi-tasking, even for simple tasks. Our synapses, those connections in the brain through which we command our legs to walk or our fingers to grasp something, or our memory to remind us why we do this or that, are no longer so smoothly connected. May ‘kalawang na,’ may calcium ang mga tubo (our veins and micro-veins).
You bring three glasses from the dining table to the sink and on the way you want to pick up a pen. If you haven’t already dropped one or all the glasses, you get to the sink and ask yourself, now what did I want this pen for?
If you do break a glass or two, clean it up right away. For if you have the habit of walking barefoot, you might get cut or get a piece of broken glass embedded in the sole of your foot and that is very difficult to remove, especially if you cannot bend your legs enough! Often, that is why it is difficult to cut and trim your own toe nails—all the more reason to see a pedicure.
Now where’s that pen? [sometimesthesynapsesworkunexpectedly!]
Takeaway—main point is that as we grow older, we need to focus, start and finish one thing at a time. Our days of facile multi-tasking are quickly coming to a close!