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It wasn’t the first time this had happened to me. You would think I would have learned the lesson by now, but there I was – stuck at the back door, trying to open it with too much in my hands.

I lifted my left wrist against the weight of the bags hanging from it, trying to grasp the knob while 56 ounces of orange juice, a jug of kefir, a bag of celery stalks, and a bag of Pink Lady apples kept my hand from reaching, much less turning the knob.

Use the other hand, you suggest? It was equally laden with a bag of chicken, a dozen eggs, butter, and shredded cheese – all carefully balanced along my right wrist, while a coveted cup of hot mocha was precariously held aloft in my hand. No way would I sacrifice chocolate for anything as mundane as opening a door!

And in that effort to be efficient, I: (A) could not get in the door, and (B) spent more time trying (first) to get in, and (second) not to drop or spill anything, than it would have taken for me to have made the two trips I should have made!

But why was I standing there floundering in the first place? Because I was trying to consolidate my efforts and make only one trip from the car to the kitchen, carrying the groceries. And why was that important? Because that is how I have trained myself to live, apparently without regard for whether it is necessary or not.

Doing too many things at one time not only divides and distracts our attention, it also divides and distracts us from our own experiences.

In an effort to economize activities, we can jeopardize their value in our lives. Have you ever caught yourself trying to multi-task RESTING? Really? Me too. Does everything need to have an additional layer intruding upon our experience of it?

For today, resolve to be aware of your efforts to multi-task, and ask if these efforts demean the experience of the tasks at hand for you. If your answer is “Yes,” then put something down and experience your involvements both fully and individually. Notice that the earth keeps spinning, even if you are not multi-tasking every experience. Treasure the moment (and the mocha) and let it be enough for that time. You will be more peaceful, more present in your circumstances, more available to the people around you, and probably more efficient for having been more cognizant of what you ARE doing, instead of looking for ways to get the tangles of baggage off one arm while the other is still laden.

Yet the issue goes further still. What about the thoughts you carry, your divided concentration and constant internal dialogue about what else you should be doing? There are times when multiple foci are necessary, if not lifesaving. But continuously operating in a fragmented mindset is exhausting and often driven by fears that are not always well-founded. Is that thing you might miss out on even something you really want? Are you chasing your dreams, or the ones you think others think you should have? Are you trying to accomplish ‘more’ in defense against feelings of not being good enough? If so, someone else is doing the driving on your life’s journey!

Take the wheel. Put down what you don’t need to carry. Anything that doesn’t help you move forward has the potential for holding you back. Choose which thoughts and messages to carry on your journey, which experiences to savor, and which activities to bundle and simply complete. As the late Mary Oliver asked in her wonderful poem, The Summer Day, “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Don’t lessen your experience of living by multi-tasking it out of your own awareness.

Quotation from: New and Selected Poems (1992), by Mary Oliver, Beacon Press, Boston, MA.