Multi-tasking

"Multitasking has been normalized. It is costly to the soul," are the wise words of an Episcopal monk.
Mothers in particular consider the ability to multi-task a necessity and a valuable skill. How else could one prepare dinner, help with homework, mediate sibling conflicts, fill-out paperwork, and handle the daily details of running a household? Yet it is possible to take this emphasis too far. Moments were not intended to be compressed to hold more, and eventually the hyper-focus on achievement takes its toll. I read an article from Christianity Today about multi-tasking, and how one woman found it to be to the detriment of her soul. She had every moment of her day action packed and even felt obligated to utilize every opportunity, even stopping at a stop light. The pace became increasingly frantic, and she could feel her soul withering in the intensity.
Important skills to cultivate as well may be: the art of doing one thing at a time, of being fully present with another person, and of intentionally leaving a void in our thoughts and schedules to be more open to hear the voice of God.