Perhaps you have been taught about the benefit of multi-tasking, knocking over lots of things at once to get everything done. It is supposedly a way to be more efficient.
But if you are up in your head with the juggle and not really present with what you are doing, how does that feel?
Does it feel a bit out of control? Does it feel as though nothing gets done properly and that you never quite settle into one thing before moving to the next?
Have you tried uni-tasking instead?
Doing one thing simply and properly at a time? It is really all we can do anyway, and the stress of juggling from one thing to another not only robs us of time but means that we are juggling back and forth and not necessarily doing anything with full awareness.
Let me be clear.
You can eat breakfast and read the paper (or ipad/phone). Well yes you could, and I sometimes do so myself. But if you are fully present with eating your breakfast, notice how nourishing and pleasurable it is. Just eat to eat. Eat to nourish. Notice the flavours and textures.
Of course this is a practice in being mindful.
Compare this to having the distraction of a screen. Do you really even taste your food? Do you feel full and satisfied by your food? Perhaps not.
I’m not saying there are not some occasions where you might want to multi-task.
Maybe you can t talk to your mother on the phone at the same time as doing the ironing. There are some things that perhaps we don’t need to be so present for (haha, that would be the ironing, right?) but most people can tell if you are not giving them your full attention, and is that want you really want? It would be hard to write a blog post or work on a complicated problem while talking on the phone, wouldn’t it?
If you think about your day, think about how much more productive you are when fully focused.
Switch of your notifications and be present for what you are doing. It is win-win because life feels richer, you are present for more of it AND yes it really is more efficient than flitting from one thing to another.
And a focused mind is more easily dropped for meditation. A focused mind is more present and aware.
A focussed mind is more able to be observed from your natural state of inner freedom.
Try it and see for yourself. I’d love to know what works best for you.
Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a start.
You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE and postage is free in Australia. They make a perfect gift too.
The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.
