Today’s Theme: Single Task

Today’s theme as a part of my 10 day ZenHabits challenge is:

Single Task

That to me sounds like “the opposite of multi-task“.  So, that’s how I went about things today.

ha ha…let me rephrase that so it’s more accurate: that’s how I intended to go about things today.

Intentions are a great thing and up to today I can honestly say they really helped me steer my course for the day and achieve harmony with each day’s intention, or theme.
However, today was not one of those days.

As a project manager by trade, a type-A personality, and a mechanistic kinda gal…doing just one thing at a time did not come naturally or easily to me.  In fact, it didn’t really come.  Well, that’s not true.  At dinner I ate dinner and didn’t check my emails or look at Facebook or any of the other things I might often do with eating.  I did single task my dinner and maybe brushing my teeth.  Just about everything else was my usual mutli-tasking.

About mid-way through the day I realized what an outside-my-comfort-zone day I was experiencing.  And I didn’t make it wrong – just aware…

…wildly aware that I am a major multi-tasker!

I think all women are to a large extent.  We’ve got a lot of sh^t we feel we need to get done in a day, right?!

What I came to understand and translate today’s theme into for me was this:

Single task…important things.

That means – whatever I feel is important and deserves my full-present attention, like talking with a friend, client or colleague I would be focused on them.  If I was performing something that required attention and could be done best without doing two other things, I did that one thing by itself.

I know what you’re thinking.  You’re making up the rules as you go?! You’re supposed to do just one single thing…that’s the whole point!

Well, I thought about that and looked at how I have my life structured, the kind of work I do and a lot of microscoping on my lifestyle and came to terms with the fact that there are some things I can do multi- and some things I will and want to do single-ly.  And it’s really up to me to figure that out for myself, right? I do get to make up the rules.  And so do you, my dear.

That’s what today’s biggest lesson was for me.  There are 100,000 lamps and only one light in the world.  There are many truths but only our truth.  Everyone has a perception and that perception is perfect for their world.  So, single-task works in my world and for who I want to be when I deem it’s important.

What today’s practice has also helped me realize is there ARE important things to do single-ly.  I’m more aware of them.  I’m not just glossing over every single darn thing with a multi-tasker’s mindset now after today.  I am mindfully choosing what to multi-task.  Ok, so I’m not perfect.  I’m going to still rush from this to that.  So be it.  I have enjoyed the self-awareness of it all and hope you have, too.

How About You?

Will you try today’s intention on for a day or a week?  Will you consider setting the intention of a single task for your life, too? 

I hope you will.  Please share your feedback in the comments below. If you would like to create a stretch goal and share it with us, please do in the comments and come back and tell us how you did.

To your highest good,

Polly

p.s. tomorrow’s theme is “breathe” Can’t get enough of that so here goes!