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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners

10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation

What is Meditation?

Mindful LivingSleep
CommunityFor Work

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Cory Muscara

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The Perils of Multitasking

Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:

Hi, welcome back to

your Daily Mindfulness.

In today's session, we're going

to talk about multitasking.

I first want to share a quote by

Publilius Syrus who says, "To do two

things at once is to do neither."

To do two things at once is to do neither.

So let that sink in.

I know we can all resonate with that

experience of one, having a lot that

we're trying to get done, but when we're

doing one thing, not actually being there.

We're trying to get so much done

in a day or in any given moment

that, that well-intentioned effort

of trying to cram a lot in actually

prevents us from doing anything well.

And that's what I love about this quote.

To do two things or to try to

do two things at once often

means to not do either of them.

We're, we're not giving

our full selves to either.

We're not being fully present for either.

We're not giving our best effort,

our best focus, our best capacity.

And so it really starts to

challenge the myth of multitasking.

And it is a myth.

A lot of the research coming out of

Wharton Business School continues

to show that the more we try to

do in any given moment, not only

are we not able to, but we cause

ourselves more stress in the process.

And so this is something that we might

know intuitively, especially as we're

getting into our mindfulness practice.

We recognize like, yeah, I know I should

be doing one thing at a time, but perhaps

still in the background of our mind,

it's like, yeah, I can, I can do it.

I can beat the system.

I can multitask.

I can get a lot done.

And it's not to say, don't try to

get a lot done, but notice how many

things you have swimming in your

mind when you are doing one thing.

It might not be that you're actually

doing two things at once, but while

you are doing one thing, your mind is

partially thinking about something else.

And see if you can make these experiences

a meditation practice in themselves.

The conversation with a partner or your

child, an email that you're writing,

a phone call that you're having, see

if you can give that task at hand,

your full love, devote yourself

to it, show up for it fully in the

same way you would the breath and a

meditation practice or sound as you're

listening to the birds and in nature.

To do two things at once is to do neither.

See if you can make

that your mantra today.

See how it helps you on

your mindfulness journey.

Thank you for your practice.

Let's settle in for today's meditation.

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