Are you proud of being an excellent multitasker? Do you like the adrenaline that comes from doing at least 10 things at once? Maybe you feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done, so you never do one thing at a time. It’s hard not to do too many things at the same time, but new research shows that multitasking actually means doing less and not doing it as well. The impact of multitasking on your health may take a while to show, but according to yoga and Ayurvedic philosophy, this lack of focus creates an imbalance of Vata and prevents you from achieving optimal health.

Research shows multitasking is less efficient

In a 2009 Stanford University study, researchers found that people considered multitaskers had an inability to ignore distractions and keep things separate in their minds. They made more mistakes and their memory was poorer. This study suggested that by doing less, you could accomplish more. The American Psychological Association also published a study on multitasking that revealed that “for all types of tasks, subjects lost time when they had to switch from one task to another, and time costs increased with task complexity, so it took much longer to switch between more complex tasks. So multitasking may seem more efficient on the surface, but it can actually take longer in the end.”

Multitasking is impossible to avoid in motherhood

“In politics, if you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.”

– Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Great Britain

Madeleine Albright, a former US Secretary of State, described multitasking in relation to parenting as the “skill that comes from keeping an eye on the child while trying to talk to the plumber and worrying about something else (like your doctoral thesis) at the same time”. hour.” Every mother knows that it’s virtually impossible to do one thing at a time when you’re with your kids. It’s more like being pulled in 1000 directions at once, and that’s before you even try to do any work. Some speculate there are differences in the male and female brain that allow moms, along with the help of some hormones, to be great multitaskers. Unfortunately, the price moms pay can be extreme fatigue and forgetfulness. There’s almost no way around it, and all It is done, but at a cost.

The ancient philosophy of yoga teaches the virtues of concentration

“The mind is restless, turbulent and strong, as difficult to restrain as the wind.“

– Arjuna to Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita

Much of modern yoga practice is based on the classical Indian text, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. In it, Patanjali defines “Yoga” as “the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind”. The path of yoga is then described as having eight branches (=Ashtanga Yoga), one of which is called “dharana”. Dharana translates as concentration, or fixation of consciousness on one point, and is considered essential for meditation. The inability to control the mind in this way is one of the causes of suffering. We have all experienced this. Sometimes we can’t sleep because our mind is too active or we worry about something all day. Yoga teaches us to pay attention to the breath to stay centered, focused, and grounded. This controls the active mind and allows us to follow the spiritual path.

How multitasking affects our health

When we do 10 things at the same time, it creates a lot of excitement in our nervous system. Our bodies actually go into hyperactive mode to do everything. Ayurveda describes this as a wind that stirs in our body. Wind is another word for Vata. People with a Vata constitution tend to be hyperactive by nature (believe me!) but anyone can get a Vata imbalance from doing too much for too long. This usually manifests as nervousness, anxiety, forgetfulness, insomnia, space, possibly even low libido, and back pain. Vata causes irregularities: it could be in digestion, sleep, appetite or sexual desire. To balance Vata, it is important to not only deal with diet and herbs, but also slow down, stay focused, stick to a routine, and do one thing at a time.

The one thing at a time experiment