The art of concentration or the path to multifailing

December 1, 2019

Right now when writing this text my kids wants to get my attention, “what is the color of the Pokemon Feraligatr, dad?”, “can I see again please?”, “What are you doing, dad?”, “I want to print another color paper” of course I want to help them, they are the most important part of my life. But somewhere from whithin my brain I hear “I have a tried to get this cartoon ready since February 2019, get it done god damn it!” And then it struck me, this cartoon is about me, but I suspect Im not alone on this? At work Im also always eager to get involved, interested in most things and always trying to help when I can and I love it, but it has a cost. Too little time for self reflection or actually having time to finish things. It is a fine balance between multitasking and multifailing. So now I have decided, this week I will work from home one day to make sure that I have time to think or at least give myself time to finish a couple of things.

Comic, panel 1. A magician in a blue hat sits at a desk with a scroll, a quill and an inkpot, thinking.

Panel 2. The magician smiles and starts writing.

Panel 3. A colleague with a scroll: “Hi, could you help me with a small thing here?” The magician: “Ee... well, yes sure.”

Panel 4. The magician: “No problems, now then where was I?” The colleague, leaving: “Thanks....”

Panel 5. The magician writes again, smiling.

Panel 6. Another colleague with a long scroll: “Hi, could you help me with a small thing here?” The magician, annoyed: “What! Yes yes what is it then.”

Panel 7. The magician: “Ok, go away now. Need to think.... Gnnn....” The colleague, leaving: “Thanks....”

Panel 8. The magician frowns and writes.

Panel 9. A third colleague: “Hi, could you help me with a small thing here?” The magician, angry, has spilled ink on the scroll: “What the... yes yes what is it now then!”

Panel 10. The magician holds his head: “Think think” The colleague, leaving: “Thanks....”

Panel 11. The magician writes grimly next to an ink blot. Someone with a mug appears at the edge.

Panel 12. Two colleagues with mugs: “Hi, what do you say time for a break?” The magician grits his teeth.

Panel 13. The two colleagues with their mugs. One: “Why is he always so grumpy?” The other: “Well I guess it is the typical magician. What else can you expect?”