The Art of Singletasking

I've lost the art of singletasking. I don't know when or where I lost it, but I'm starting to mourn. As a working mom, my mantra for many years has been multitask, multitask, multitask. Every magazine I read gives me tips on how to do it, every mom I talk to boasts with pride about their skill in it, but...is it necessary? Are we missing out on life in our quest to add more time to the day?

I think today I just reached a breaking point with it. This morning, I found myself sitting on the floor of my son's playroom playing Candyland with him, while giving the baby her breathing treatment in my lap, using one hand to text with a friend about hotel arrangements for an upcoming weekend trip, the other hand was checking work email on my laptop, and my ears were listening to my Tivo'd Oprah from yesterday. The only multitask task I had going that was okay was my roast in the crockpot in the kitchen. All the other things I was trying to do simultaneously...they all got done, sure, but who benefited?

Did my son enjoy playing a game with his mommy? No. Did the baby get a restful time to do her breathing treatment? No. Am I going to have to watch that Oprah at another time because I completely missed key points? Yes. I really stopped myself in the midst of all that, and I felt....ashamed. Not proud, not accomplished and involved, just ashamed. This is not anywhere near the role model I want to be. I want to enjoy my time on all these different tasks. I want to tell my friend I'm excited about our trip instead of just deciding who is going to use their hotel points for the room.

I am going to start concentrating on the art of singletasking. Beginning now - I am going to end this blog post, close my browser, and go play superheroes with my son.