Multitasking – deal with more than one task at the same time.
I’ve always liked the fact that I am an excellent multitasker. What ways can/do we multitask? We may text a friend while we are chatting with another one. We may be at work, check social media, listen to music, deal with other emails that handle other parts of our life all at the same time. You may be a parent so you may feed your child or make dinner while watching tv, or while helping another child with homework and planning out your week.
I’ve always thought of multitasking as a wonderful thing, and it can be. Multitasking is very helpful and makes you feel very productive. However, lately I’ve been feeling more drained, more tired, spread thin, less engaged, more scatterbrained, more anxious, and I’m realizing I’m multitasking more. Maybe not even actually doing many different tasks but my mind is constantly going from what needs to be done, and how I can possibly do X amount of things all at once. For example, today at work I had just eaten lunch, I wanted to go for a walk to get my 10,000 steps (Do you follow my fitness Instagram? Check it out! @Mending_The_Temple), I also wanted to journal because… well, the list of things above, I wanted to read a devotional, I wanted to write this thought (multitasking post) down, I wanted to check on/send a few emails and I wanted to just relax at lunch (whaaaat… relax?! what’s that?). None of those things are bad things and yes, some of them could be done together. But instead of doing one or two things well, my mind began to race to how would I get them done, then to other things that I needed to do that I couldn’t right now, to how was I going to get things done, then my mind began to add things that have deadlines this month that I need to work on.
Be Still.
Does this ever happen to you?
Are you a multitasker?
Sometimes we have to be, right?
A lot of the time I feel stressed out and pulled in many different directions. If I allow myself to get still enough I realize that what I am really wanting, what I’m craving, is my Jesus. I am wanting time with Him.
“The Lord answered her, “Martha, my beloved Martha. Why are you upset and troubled, pulled away by all these many distractions? Are they really that important? Mary has discovered the one thing most important by choosing to sit at my feet. She is undistracted, and I won’t take this privilege from her.” Luke 10:41-42 TPT
Look at that… “pulled away by all these many distractions”. When I read this I thought “Yes! Me! Distracted!” If you read this and thought “Yep, that’s me too” then ask yourself this question; Are they really that important? Obviously feeding your children and helping with homework are not things that you can dismiss for the day and put off to tomorrow. But is there something else? Does that email absolutely have to be sent right now? Does that text have to be responded to right this very minute? Do you have to check your social media feed again “just in case” or can it wait?
“Put your heart and soul into every activity you do, as though you are doing it for the Lord himself and not merely for others.” Colossians 3:23 (TPT)
If I am distracted by many different tasks am I really putting my “heart and soul into every activity I do”? Not really… What would happen if I chose to, instead of multitasking, single-task? If I chose to focus on the task at hand, put my heart and soul into it, and do it with excellence. Do you think the world might end? 😉 Doubtful. I believe that if we chose to single-task instead of multitask (when able) we would walk in more clarity, more peace. I read an Instagram post by a friend this week that spoke to this, I’ll include it HERE.
Steven Furtick said “Are you waiting for a peace that only your obedience can produce?” Are we being obedient to His Word and putting our heart and soul into every activity we do? Are we doing everything as unto the Lord? Or are we just trying to make check marks on our to-do list?
I purpose to “stop and smell the roses”, to slow down and handle one task at a time, to let some things go unfinished today because the world won’t end because they aren’t done right this minute. I challenge you to do the same, friend. Let’s be more like Mary, let’s sit at the feet of Jesus. Let’s allow Him to invade every area of our lives, to speak to us in our coming and going. How can we “be constantly in prayer” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and hear His voice throughout the day if our minds are so cluttered with “stuff”? Let’s be fully present in our time with Him, let’s be fully present in our time with our friends and family. Let’s allow ourselves to quiet our thoughts and enjoy the coffee before us, enjoy the people around us, enjoy the sunset that we see. Do things with excellence and do them one at a time.