I have just returned from a short trip to San francisco, something I can easily do now being on the west coast. It was my first solo trip since my son was born, and the first day I was prone to many teary moments. In the end it was so amazingly good for me to do, and i return feeling recharged. I had a bit of an epiphany while traveling that I thought I might share with you. The simplicity of this will surprise you, but the results of my experiment with it were quite profound. After completing the following exercise for many hours I felt calm, relaxed and totally in the moment. So here it is:
Do one thing at a time.
That’s it.
I realize how much of our day is spent multitasking, checking email, doing dishes, talking on the phone, racing from place to place, doing chores, etc. All at once. But when you make the conscious decision to just do one thing at a time it causes you to pay more attention and be more present in you body and in the world. The experiment was not without it’s challenges. I found myself wanting to read while I ate and check email. Though I really enjoyed consciously crunching my ice while drinking some juice on the plane (I am an avid ice cube cruncher).
I know this will be hard to achieve when i am back into my regular routing, and having a toddler makes it necessary to multitask if you want to get anything done. But I am going to continue the experiment and try to work at it throughout the day. I think it is worth it for the sense of calm that it creates.
2:58 am
im going to try this as i sit here reading this blog eating an apple,drawing and watching a film.I think this is a wise approach to life.
2:26 pm
Was eating soup when i started reading your post. Promptly closed my laptop and just ate my soup. ^_^ Thanks for the reminder! DO ONE THING AT A TIME! Yes.
5:59 pm
As a junior in the crazy, hectic, stress-filled monster known as high school, this is a very new idea to me. One thing at a time…how is this possible? This should not feel so profound, but, unfortunately, it does.
Thank you for the intriguing idea.
11:08 am
The reality is, we can only DO one thing at a time. It is not possible to do more. What IS possible is to be thinking about doing more than one thing at a time. We worry about all the things we need to do or think of what we’ve just done instead of enjoying right where we are! Be with your blog post, be with your book, be with your ice… it’s all you CAN do.
12:09 pm
Ah….. one glorious, precious, delicious thing at a time. Game on!
12:25 pm
As a working mother of a busy toddler, I understand the desire to be able to slow down and do one thing, though I find it next to impossible. Maybe I’ll shoot for doing just one thing once a day. And for getting away like you did once a month or so. It’s amazing how rejuvenating even 24 hours of solo time can be.
9:09 pm
How simple, how true. Paying more attention and being more present. While technologies and conveniences of today have made life better in some ways, they really distract us from what’s really important and is the best and at the core of all of us–our spiritual and creative selves.
3:59 am
I tried this yesterday and still ended up at one point having two conversations at the same time while answering an email while on hold on the phone! That’s not even including the Word docs and spreadsheets I had open. Must try again today. Must try harder. D-
12:33 pm
Its a crushing to start reading this post while eating lunch but I thank you for the reminder. I read, THEN ate, NOW am commenting. I will join your experiement.
Why is it that since we have the option, these days, of doing so many things at once that we think its a good idea to do so many things at once? Do you think its greed that makes us multi-task? Do we think we can accumulate more time like we accumulate things?
10:17 pm
Yes, yes, yes! I, too, have been making this my practice. I really try to be completely present for my kiddos when I am spending time with them, and I approach my work with the same respect when it is time to sit down and get busy. We can’t escape multitasking altogether, but a more concious awareness of what we are doing in the present moment, and our intentions for that moment, really makes the difference between a feeling of peace and a feeling of being randomly struck with a cow prod.
6:57 pm
Ice crunchers unite! I love to crunch ice. : ) (Yep, that’s the part that stuck out for me. LOL)
2:10 pm
I love crunching ice. Love it. It drives my family crazy. The next freezer I get will have an ice machine so I can get my ice partly crunched before I put it in my mouth… :) Otherwise I love your advice on doing one thing at a time!
8:22 am
Hi. I used to crunch lots of ice cubes (drove my husband crazy !)…..found out that I had an iron deficiency called Pica. As soon as I started taking iron pills, my craving for ice cubes vanished !….and I too discovered that doing one thing at a time is amazing….. I just have to remind myself of that a lot.
