Monotasking

How many things are you doing right now? At this very second. The American culture is soaked in and trained for multi-tasking. I don't know enough about other cultures, so I"ll just point out the one I know. As Americans, we are expected to do absolutely everything - no exceptions. Others seem to think less of you if you're not doing at least four things at once - and they should totally be "productive" things or they don't count. Ridiculous.

I'm a big fan of monotasking. It laughs in the face of all those American naysayers. Monotasking is simply the practice of doing one thing and one thing alone. Sometimes multitasking is a good thing, but too much of it is just stressful and doesn't allow you to give real attention to anything at all. At first it can be hard to honestly just do one thing. Just eat, just read a book, just draw a picture, just hula hoop... just just just. To fully give your attention to a solitary act is quieting to your nervous system and good mental health practice. It's meditative if you want to think of it that way.

Monotasking will improve your ability to focus on other things and your attention span will grow. I'm excessively guilty of a short attention span and could really benefit from monotasking more often. My husband knows this better than anyone because I am barely capable of holding a conversation unless it's about yoga. I am so easily distracted - like a butterfly.

Today try doing things one at a time. Tell that little voice in your head (or coming out of your mother-in-laws mouth) to get lost because even if you don't do everything at once - you're cultivating an appreciation for the little things - and that's what will make you happier moment to moment.