CONFESSION - An Unspoken Addiction....Multi-tasking

This morning I had some free time to just rest. I was suffering from a cold and I had been taking care of all my other sick family members all week. Finally, this morning, all the kids were feeling better and in school.

I came home after dropping off the kids with delicious thoughts of just resting.

However, once I stepped into the house, my addiction kicked in. I saw dirty dishes that needed to be washed, the laundry pile that needed to be folded and put away, the Xmas presents that needed wrapping, the Xmas cards that needed to be sent out, the meat that has been thawing in the fridge for few days that needed to be cooked, the emails that needed responses, the work that I had put aside to nurse my family, the trash cans that needed to be emptied, the pile of magazines that needed to be read....My eyes darted from one item that needed to be taken care of to another in seconds as my mind did pop-up screens of my to do list.

UGH! I pushed all those thoughts aside and reminded myself that I needed to rest.

I sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV...I went to the DVR menu and saw all the programs that I needed to catch up on. I started to watch a recorded show. I got thirty so I went to get some tea. As I was getting lemon for my tea, I saw a big red juicy spill on one of refrigerator shelves that had dried up. I took a dish rag and cleaned it up. Since I was cleaning it up, I decided to wipe down all the shelves. Then I realized that I still had the TV show on and I was missing it. I threw the dish rag into the sink and went back to the sofa to watch the show. As I was reaching for the TV remote to fast forward through the commercials, I saw the magazine on the coffee table that I had been meaning to read. So I started to read it while I was watching the TV program. I went back to the kitchen to put my teacup away and to get a snack. As I was rinsing out my teacup, I decided to quickly wash some of the big dishes so that the sink would be not so crowded for when we make dinner tonight. So I quickly washed some dishes, then I realized that I was again missing the TV show. I quickly dried my hands and cursed at myself for not leaving things alone and for not resting.

I sat down to watch TV and read the magazine. My eyes caught sight of the knitting project that I have been meaning to finish for months. I picked it up...I can knit while I watch TV. So soon I was knitting while getting glimpses of the TV show, and looking at the pictures in the magazine.

UGH!!! I was multi-tasking again! It crept up on me again! I cursed at myself again. I shut off the TV, threw down the magazine and the knitting. I stood up in frustration. I can shake this addiction if it is the last thing I do, I said to myself. I looked around - I saw all that need to be done! I shut my eyes. I found myself pacing back and forth, shaking while I was fighting off the desire to multi-task and get stuff done before the rest of the family members get home. But that would mean that I would not have rested and that I would be even more tired and will probably get cranky.

I lied down on my sofa and turned away from everything. I faced the sofa back. I will fight this multi-tasking addiction, I repeated to myself. The habit had started so harmlessly: Talking to my son as I was doing dishes; Folding laundry while watching TV. Then I started to answer emails while I was on the phone; Cleaning while my son followed me around telling me about his day. It is really all those info commercials' fault. They said that you can exercise on their machine while watching TV. Do two things at once! Have more time later by doing more now. Sounds nice, but then it becomes an addiction. Soon, I found that I could never do anything without doing something else at the same time.

I shut my eyes to force out all thoughts of to do lists and images of what needed to be done. As I kept my eyes shut, my tiredness took over. I was getting sleepy. As I drifted off to sleep, I thought, maybe sleeping is the cure for the multi-tasking addiction. As I drifted off to sleep, I notice some dirty spots on the sofa.