Reconsidering single-tasking: mindful multi-tasking works better for me

In an earlier post (too many cold cups of tea) I wrote about being trapped by my multi-tasking world. I found myself moving through my house in circles, picking things up and taking them to another room, only to be distracted by something there that I needed to do, and on and on. The result: days filled with half-done jobs. And cold cups of tea. In that post I wrote that multi-tasking was an addiction I wanted to kick. I yearned for a simpler 'one-thing-at-a-time' time. With space in between jobs. For. Quiet. Being.

But - it's now months later and I can't stop!!! I need to unpack the dishwasher while the kettle boils. Who did I think I was kidding? Do I live in a cave in the Himalayas? No! Do I only have three or four things to do in a day? No! I'm a working mum with two pre-schoolers, four chickens, two cats, a dog and a husband. I honestly do not think I can finish one job before I start another. Not. Going. To. Happen.

So, should I abandon all hope? Throw my hands in the air and say 'stuff it, inner peace will just have to wait until I've got more time'? No! I really don't think Himalayan monks have the franchise on quiet being. Instead, I see another path. Sightly more hidden but there all along. I now think I can continue to multi-task, so long as I do it mindfully. That word is bandied about a lot, but all it means is do, but watch the doing. If I can observe myself doing the many, inter-connected things I do, and appreciate the fact that I'm getting so much done, therein lies some zen-space. Like spinning plates. The problem wasn't the doing, it was the thinking about the next thing to do while doing the first. That's how I forgot about so many cups of tea.

So no - dammit - I'm not going to fight the urge to unpack the dishwasher while I'm waiting for the kettle to boil. I'm going to occupy my mind, spin the plates, live on the edge.

And - I think anyone who achieves a blob of inner peace whilst juggling a household, kids, work (not to mention the chickens), should congratulate themselves. Don't you think that's got to be a harder path to enlightenment than the one trod by a cave-dwelling hippy? Maybe.