Intentus in Unum
Quicquid agas, studeas opus esse intentus in unum,
Nam varius turbat mentem adimitque labor.
Source: Georgius Carolides (1569-1612), Farrago, 4.56. Meter: Elegiac. This is a great little poem about multitasking - and the perils of multitasking. Note the use of the subjunctive studeas as a form of command.
Whatever you might be doing (quicquid agas), strive to be focused (studeas esse intentus) on a single task (opus in unum), for multitasking (nam varius labor) disturbs and distracts the mind (turbat mentem adimitque).
I took the liberty of translating "varius labor" as "multitasking" in English. :-)
The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. There is only one word in this poem that is not on the DCC list:
adimō, adimere: take away, deprive, snatch
agō agere ēgī āctum: drive, do, act
in: in, on (+ abl.); into, onto (+ acc)
intendō -tendere -tendi -tentum: stretch out, strain
labor -ōris m.: toil, exertion
mēns mentis f.: mind
nam or namque: for, indeed, really
opus operis n.: work
que (enclitic) - and
quisquis quidquid: whoever, whichever
studeō -ēre -uī: be eager, be zealous, care for (+ dat.)
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
turbō -āre: disturb, confuse
ūnus -a -um: one
varius -a -um: changing, varied, various
