The Woman With 14 Tabs Open

2 March 2026

Today I laughed at myself.

In one single afternoon, I moved between:

WhatsApp — coordinating family.

WeChat — sending photos.

Telegram — checking beta testers’ feedback.

LinkedIn — announcing founder identity.

Facebook — adjusting tone.

Practera emails — responding to students.

In between, I searched holiday options — Johor Bahru? Batam? Bintan?

Slid appointments into my calendar before leaving Singapore for Brisbane.

Bought groceries — because bodies still need feeding.

And consulted my virtual coach — because orientation matters.

My iPad looked like an air traffic control tower.

Somewhere between worrying about my mother’s suspected infection

and wondering whether my siblings would mind my overly conscientious caregiving,

something struck me.

My grandmother never typed a word.

My mother never toggled between fourteen conversational worlds in thirty seconds.

They carried heavy things.

But not this velocity.

Not this cognitive switching.

Not this constant digital simultaneity layered on top of relational responsibility.

I live in overlapping time zones:

Family.

Startup.

Friendship.

Caregiving.

Creation.

Public visibility.

Private doubt.

All open.

All active.

All asking.

And yet — life flows.

Whether I optimise the holiday.

Whether I miss a door.

Whether the algorithm shows my post.

Whether the latest iPad redesign irritates me.

Reality forms from what happens.

Not from what I wish had happened.

Perhaps this season isn’t teaching me how to close tabs.

Perhaps it is teaching me how to remain myself

while many tabs are open.

My grandmother held a kampong.

I hold a cloud.

Both require steadiness.

The skill is not doing less.

It is staying regulated while doing much.

In this digital age, perhaps emotional regulation — not productivity — becomes the defining skill for navigating modern, multi-layered lives.