Parents: You Don't Have To Multitask (All The Time)

Parents: You Don't Have To Multitask (All The Time)

This week I personally learned a lesson I thought I already knew. Multitasking is cool (but not exactly natural for humans), but getting things done, one job at a time, is better.

My morning duties include getting the kids' food ready for the day, breakfast and lunch and somehow in the midst of that making my own breakfast and lunch and brewing coffee for my wife and myself. I always take care of the kids, and I'm pretty on point when it comes to the coffee for the wife. But it's been hit or miss whether or not I take care of myself. I often leave the house feeling disorganized and the rest of the time I'm leaving stuff at home, such as my phone, and at my worst, my work laptop.

Back to this week. I came down to the kitchen on Monday morning and brewed a  pot of coffee, then I made my daughter's lunch, then the kids' breakfast, then my lunch, my breakfast, then I made a mug of coffee for the road and set my wife's coffee up so she could spike it with all the nasty syrups that turn a morning cup of java into something else (I'm a purist). And then I was ready to go. I marveled at how quickly I moved through my chores by simply doing one task at a time. I've become so scatterbrained with social media and texting and writing and hoping and dreaming, I completely forgot that I am capable of getting things done by doing them one at a time. Even though at work I learned back in my twenties to do only one thing at a time. Specifically, the thing I don't want to do the most --- I do that first. Funny how we separate parts of our lives from one another, as if they are somehow separate, and find ourselves struggling to live a balanced life.

And now it's Friday and I made it through the week successfully, one task at a time. Life isn't always going to always be so courteous as to allow me this luxury but I'm glad to know the option exists. It's good to know I'm still capable when so much seems to be so insurmountable in the parenting, marriage, bills and life game. Of course, doing all this stuff the night before is the best of all options, but on those nights when you just don't have the energy, consider doing your tasks one at a time (and remain mindful of time).

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