Marbles and Multi tasking

I recently shared a post about a rather hectic day I had which culminated at tea time with me unloading the dishwasher, clearing away the children's tea, receiving my food order, trying to arrange a lift home for my stranded husband and dash up and down stairs to my children who although supposedly in bed for the night were concocting all sorts of mayhem in their bedroom.  Multitasking doesn't quite seem to cut it.

Anyway it put me in mind of two articles I had read on friends blogs lately.  Fiona from tea with a friend shared her experiences of multitasking with two small boys in tow and reflected on the following anecdote from a visitor to Corrie Ten Boom, Dutch Holocaust survivor and her carer Pam;

"They enjoyed a relaxed day together, which included plenty of activity but seemed peaceful and stress-free at the same time. When Joni and her friends commented on this, Pam explained "Corrie and I never do lots of things at once. We don't sit outside, read and enjoy chocolates. We space everything out so we can truly appreciate the individual pleasures of each activity." What a wonderful attitude to take to life!"

Read Fiona's full article here.

Another friend of mine has recently started a blog since her husband was diagnosed with cancer.  As you can imagine facing something like that makes you think about life a little more sharply.  Marion wrote about an activity her and Steve did with a jar of marbles which I found very touching.  Its a way of sorting priorities and is the sort of activity that counsellors love to use with their clients.  I am always amazed that by attaching an idea or concept to an object you can somehow say so much more about it and more easily too.  Each marble represented something in their life and was allotted a marble with a size that corresponded to its importance.  They found when they put all the little marbles into a jar there wasn't any room for the most important things - funny hey!  Read the article here. Marion is far better able to explain it all here.

I fear I may be hopelessly addicted to multitasking and it may be too late to change my ways but sometimes its good to raise your awareness and change your habits - if only for a little while.  So happy reading & take some time today to do just one thing & really savour the moment.  I might go and savour a cup of tea sans limescale without the TV on or facebook or any other distractions.

What will you do?