The term multitasking was never meant to be applied to human beings, it was created for the first computer that could do more than one thing at a time. And yet, it has somehow become a highly desired and rewarded human skill.
So, it’s all come to this: The more like an efficient computer you are, the better.
This is both horrifying to the quality of life we are manically multitasking away, and absolute death to the artist.
There are, of course, certain times when multitasking is unavoidable; we live busy lives. It becomes a problem when it becomes a way of life. We are by nature, anxious monkeys and multitasking goes a long way to increasing our natural anxiety to unmanageable levels.
Here are three areas in which actors should avoid multitasking.
The preparation. Creating a job-getting audition requires a technique that breaks down the process step by step and takes you through those steps one at a time. Many times I’ll have actors call me for private coaching and when I ask them what they’ve done with the piece so far, I often get answers like, “Well, I read it about 20 times, I tried to figure out what they’re looking for, I thought of some choices that might work, etc.” In the absence of a systematic way of working, the actor is trying to do everything at once and nothing good ever comes from creative multitasking.
First things first: Reading the piece 20 times to start with makes it impossible for you to find your own unique voice in the piece—your right brain will be too over stimulated to deliver anything but the literal sense of the words. The casting director wants to see who you are and the qualities that you and only you have to add to the role; guessing what they want may eliminate what’s strongest about you and what’s strongest about you is exactly what they want! And how can you even think of making choices without first having a driving, interesting, and dynamic intent? There is no compelling how (choices) without a strong why (intent).
This unfocused whack-a-mole approach that way too many actors mistakenly call preparation never leads to anything but a permanent place in the unemployment line.
Your way of preparing needs to give you a framework that will allow you to explore, feel, and ultimately live in the piece, one decision at a time.
The reading. If you have used a strong technique that has grounded your decisions in your body, you will be able to let the work go and just be. If each decision received your full attention and was explored mentally, physically, and emotionally, then you will be able to live in each moment of the piece. This is the moment-to-moment freedom of the actor who has prepared with an intense, one-pointed focus.
On the other hand, there’s the actor who, instead of focusing on one thing at a time in his prep, tries to do everything at once. Since this multitasking approach didn’t allow him to feel what it’s like to live and breathe in the individual moments of the piece, those moments will all blend together in a generic, uninteresting mush delivered with an unfocused anxiety.
In an audition, you are free only to the degree to which you are thoroughly and specifically prepared.
The room. People hire people they like, but how can they like you if you’re not present? You need to show up in the room as a fully dimensional human being who has nothing else on their mind than being present for the people and the experience in front of you. Just as in the work, if you have no experience in your body and mind of what it feels like to be completely present, if you’re a multi-tasking fiend who does no less than four things at once, you’ll appear in the room as fractured, neurotic, and weak.
There is a magnetic stillness and effortless charisma to someone who is able to focus on one thing and be completely present for that one thing. This undistracted attention breeds an effortless magnetism that can make you an undeniable force in the room, and eventually, in the life of the project.
Life is made up of moments, each one unique and special. The goal of the artist is to live them; the goal of the multitasker is to finish them as quickly as possible. The two cannot exist together.
So, one thing at a time.
Live each moment with focus, curiosity, and undivided attention. This is the only way of life for the true artist who knows that it’s the details, the brilliant specificity that comes from fully living in each moment that is the centerpiece of a rich, sweet life, and the cornerstone of great art.
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