Mindful Multitasking

Jared Weintraub and some of his colleagues did some research that asked a simple question – what makes it so easy for some people to multitask and feel good about it while others are ready to pull the hair out of their head? Once they had their question, they found 138 people who worked full time at universities in India and had them fill out three surveys. The first was about how much they multitasked, the second was about work-life balance and the third was about mindfulness. (You knew if I was writing about it would include mindfulness.😊)

They found that people who were more mindful felt less conflict between work and home, or in other words, felt more of a work-life balance. These mindful people also felt more life satisfaction overall. What does this mean? That multitasking is okay if you do it right – if you are mindful. People who are more mindful can balance it all and feel good about it. On the other hand, people who are not mindful suffer when they juggle too many things.

The obvious question is how to get more mindful? And I believe that you can build your mindfulness by daily meditation practice. Research by Dr. Pamela Hall shows that even just 10 minutes of meditation in a study session can improve mindfulness. Just 10 minutes!

If life feels like a constant treadmill of worrying about your family at work and worrying about work while you are at home, perhaps the best solution is some meditation! It may just help you feel better about all the things you are juggling and it might help you feel better about life!