Multi-tasking….. is it always such a good thing to do? Now some of you might be thinking I’m going to knock multi-tasking because I’m a man (men tend to be less able to multi-task than women, although clearly not all!). I’m actually not going to knock it at all – I’m just going to ask the question about whether it’s always a good thing to do. Sure it can be really useful to be able to cook dinner, talk to someone on the telephone, and do the washing up all at the same time. This means you can sit down and enjoy your dinner and focus on what you’re eating. It’s good to pay attention to what you’re eating so that you can really taste and experience the food that you’ve just so lovingly and/or painstakingly prepared.

Let’s take another look at multi-tasking when it comes to doing things for ourselves. When in a coaching or therapy session, I wouldn’t dream of eating my breakfast or lunch while working with a client. Especially during a reiki or ascension treatment as it could get a little messy! ☺ Seriously though, it would be very dishonouring and disrespectful to my client if I didn’t give them 100% of my attention and focus. They could walk away feeling under-valued and also, if I’m not focussed properly, I might miss something crucial that would have helped this person more than anything else in the session.

I’m sure you can think of things that you do where you wouldn’t dream of multi-tasking. However, how many of those things relate to yourself? For example, when you have your lunch, or brush your teeth, or maybe go for a walk do you focus completely on what you’re doing for yourself? When I worked in banking all too often I’d find myself having my lunch at my desk and working through. When brushing my teeth the morning I used to walk around getting other bits and pieces ready for work. When walking to the station in the morning I used to plan my day rather than pay attention to myself, how I felt and what was going on around me. Do you see, the focus was not on me or my needs. As I said, I wouldn’t have dreamed of treating one of my line managers in that way when they came to see me, but I was happy doing it to myself.

The world is a busy place and many people feel they have too much to get done in so little time. Whilst time really is speeding up and things are moving more quickly than they ever have, this really is no excuse to dishonour and disrespect ourselves. We are all as important and worthwhile as the next person and so deserve to focus time on us and our needs.

To repeat, we are all worthwhile, including you who are reading this right now! Yes I do mean you! Cut yourself a bit of slack. Give yourself time to eat your lunch – even if it starts out at only 10 minutes. 10 minutes is better than no time at all. Remember, small changes lead to a completely different way of living (whatever we choose that to be). So from today, if/when you find yourself multi-tasking when doing something for yourself, ask yourself the question “Am I really honouring my needs and giving myself space to do so?”. Then, make the change.