Just do one thing

The other evening, I was cooking a meal for dinner. I was fiddling with my phone to set up my favorite podcast. Then I needed to google the recipe. Kids pass by and ask me questions. Eventually, I found that instead of pork and beans, I have made vegetarian pork and beans. I had to chop up some ham and add it at the end.

I have many roles in life – mom, interpreter, wife, child, home manager, daughter, etc. During COVID, I play all of those roles from my house. Most of the time, there is a strong temptation to several things at once. I check my work messages when I am cooking lunch. I fold laundry while watching my kids play outside. I text friends while I clean up the kitchen or between tasks at work. I think multitasking is unavoidable in modern life with four kids. I also notice that when I multitask, I am constantly interrupting myself and those interruptions make me less effective and can add stress to my life.

If something is important, it’s worth the time to do just one thing. Every time I call my mom, I tell myself sit down and just take a few minutes to myself to focus on the conversation. When I do that, everything goes better. When I am working on tasks for work, I prompt myself to finish one task before I move on to the next task. That way, I don’t have hanging tail ends of jobs left forgotten at the end of the day.

Recently at work, I was doing several tasks at once and I was rushing to finish them by 11am when my interpreting assignment began. I noticed I was jittery and my shoulders were tense. It felt as if I were late for something and rushing to get there on time. I relaxed my shoulders and stopped for a minute. I told myself to pick one thing at a time to work on. I could go slowly and take the time needed for each job. The pressure of productivity and doing too many things at once made it difficult to do my work tasks mindfully and with the proper focus. It cranked my stress into high gear and not for any good reason.

I think some of this rushed feeling comes from the ultimate driver of multitasking – supporting distance learning while working. When I got time to locked myself away alone to focus completely on work, I felt like I needed to work fast, because I didn’t have the luxury of time. That’s understandable, but getting into a habit of tension at work builds up into an unhealthy habit.

One of the key elements for me of mindful living is to just do one thing at a time. I still love to run or fold laundry with a podcast on, but I can play a board game with my kids without checking my phone messages. I can declutter the living room in silence. I can check in with the garden without a headset on.

Do you have a time in the day where focusing on just one thing would reduce stress or allow for more focus? What could you do more mindfully in your daily routine? Is there a time of day when you are constantly rushing and tense? What could you do to slow down and work from a more centered place?