The age of multitasking

Nowadays, people cannot walk along the street without doing something else at the same time, like talk on the phone or send an email.... Whenever our dining partner goes off to the cloakroom, we can't wait to check if we have a new message on our phone, rather than just sit there for a few minutes, enjoying the fact that we have nothing to do.

I hope that you might find that you can simplify things a little and give each thing you do more attention rather than always looking for the next distraction. If you are having breakfast, savour the time and enjoy each mouthful; it's a wonderful time to reflect and create a sense of relaxed but active purpose for the day ahead. If you are writing a report at work, switch off all those distractions so that you can focus. It's easy to start 10 things at once but, without focus, you will struggle to finish even one of them well.

As you focus on one thing at a time, you end up getting so much more done, and the irrelevant minutiae of life gradually takes up less and less space because you are now so aware of what really matters.


As a Tibetan proverb says, 'When drinking water, think about the source.' It is a good idea to remember all of your other senses whenever you can. Take your time eating, savouring each mouthful, every taste. Stop and smell the roses; look around you - how is the world today? If you are mindful, you can ask your inner self any question, however difficult, and you will know the answer.