Mary, unplugged

I have a problem. An addiction if you will. I am seemingly incapable of doing one thing, and ONLY one thing at a time.

Eating breakfast? Reading blogs at the same time.

On the phone? You can guarantee I'm cleaning up the kitchen or deleting junk mail from my inbox.

Reading a story to my girls? Half the time my mind is reviewing my to-do list or thinking about something I need to look up on the computer once I'm done.

Some things work and make sense, like listening to an audio book while doing the dishes at night, or watching a show with Chase while I fold the laundry.

But I realized it was getting out of hand when I could not even brush my teeth without feeling the need to come out to the living room to check my e-mail.

I DON'T EVEN HAVE A SMART PHONE. And you can see why I'm still avoiding it, since I clearly don't need another avenue of distraction and multi-tasking.

I'm a mom of two young girls who are with me 90% of the time. I am busy. It would be impossible to completely focus on them at all times. Dinner must be cooked, laundry must be washed, bathrooms must be cleaned, and I think they need to learn how to entertain themselves anyway. But what was killing me was that when I was spending time with them, I was often mentally absent. I need to re-train my brain to be more still. To just be present.

I'm starting small, but here's what I've been trying this week

1. When I'm brushing my teeth, I must stay in the bathroom. This sounds silly, but it's actually been hard for me to do, so I know it's good for me.
2. I'm not allowing myself to check e-mail for the first hour of the day. This has set a very different tone for my mornings.
3. I'm only allowing myself to look at facebook and blogs for a short block of time each evening after the girls have gone to bed. I was constantly meandering over to the computer or grabbing my i-pod whenever there was a peaceful moment, and my attention really should have been focused elsewhere.
4. And finally, just realizing that I need to be more aware of this issue for myself has made a big difference.

Wish me luck in being more fully present in my own life! Things have already felt better.