For those of us who remember the days before cell phones, email, and Facebook the pace of life has quadrupled; and to keep up we’ve all developed the habit of multi-tasking.
We talk on the cell phone when we drive, eat lunch at our computers, text or watch the news during dinner, and so on.
The idea of having to keep up with all of this new technology has taken over our minds, thoughts, and lives; resulting in high and pervasive levels of stress.
Multitasking breeds inefficiency and stress because your attention can only be in one place at a time, not ten places at a time. It also fragments your attention causing you to be unfocused.
Fragmentation and being unfocused is exhausting…and there is nothing worse than coming home feeling overworked, overtired, and over-stressed and yet nothing meaningful was accomplished.
How Meditation Helps
When you meditate regularly you learn how to focus your attention on the present moment. Thoughts, images, and feelings come and go. You learn how to rest your attention in the present moment and the body rests there too.
Try this:
When you notice that you are multitasking, stop, take a deep breath and ask yourself what is important right now. What is the one thing that needs your attention right now. Then do that!
Photo Credit: Jeremy Bishop