I used to be a self-proclaimed master-multitasker. I could crank out a list of 20 things to do, and most of the time I felt exhausted at the end of the day.  

Myth #2 Moms Are Master-Multitaskers

Reality: Multitasking is a self-defeating fallacy.

Become masterfully mindful and watch your life flow. 

I had read the research proving that the brain can only focus on one meaningful task at a time. Surely, they didn’t have any moms in the study, I thought. 

I was getting a lot done but it wasn’t my best work. I would often find mistakes in my budget sheets and my once steel trap memory had become more like a colander.  And when I became a single mom in 2017, my stress load doubled.

Witnessing my loss of mental acuity and sometimes going days without sleeping, I knew something had to shift. 

I hired a high performance coach, Elle Ingalls, founder of the Pressure Free Method. She taught me 9 Tools to Stop Stress. At the time, my teenage son was running away for days at a time and I was taking full responsibility for the finances and household of 3 kids with half the income. 

The tool that helped me most to boost my daily productivity was the idea of choosing only 3 Big Tasks for the day and assigning a feeling or desired outcome to each task. This was a big departure from my previous method of crossing things off my long to-do list.

Having a full schedule can feel like success, but the truth is being preoccupied robs you of the experience of inner exploration.  

                                                                                    ~ You Are a Supermom p. 31

I would choose my 3 Big Tasks and assign a desired feeling or outcome.  It might look like this

TASK                                                                  FEELING                      TIME

Write Social Media posts                                Enthusiastic                 45 minutes

Answer and write follow up Emails               Focused                       1 hour

Design a program for a client                         Peaceful                      1 hour

As I completed each task I would reward myself with something like a dance break or going outside to walk the dogs.

Now, I know you are thinking, Gina, my life is way too crazy.  I can’t possibly do one thing at a time.  I am so overwhelmed as it is. 

I feel you, mama. I have been there. Believe me, I don’t do this every single day but I try to monotask most days.  It has taken me years to break the habit of multitasking.  What had to happen first was I had SLOW DOWN.

When you start putting your own needs first, Mom, you will begin to feel healthy, whole and complete…When you are calm on the inside, you see things through a lens of peace and life becomes easier [and the task list gets smaller]. 

When I learned from Elle that stress hormones circulate in the bloodstream for 24 hours after a triggering event, I knew I had to make some big changes. At the time, I was losing my temper every day. I had no control of my emotions. Stress was controlling my life and it felt like a tsunami was going to capsize me every day. 

The pandemic provided the perfect opportunity to step off the treadmill of life and slow down. Meditation finally became a daily practice. I found myself breathing and becoming more aware of my inner environment. I learned to ask myself, “Is this worth losing my peace for?” Usually the answer was NO, and I would take a deep breath, soften my abs and proceed from a place of calm. 

The proof that this method works: I wrote and published my book You Are a Supermom while my kids were home remote schooling. I would set aside 90 minutes each day to write and my kids supported me by respecting my need for focused time. What an accomplishment! The multitasking Gina could not have done that.   

For more tips on managing stress to become a laser focused monotasker, read Chapter 2 of You Are a Supermom. 

Next week we will bust Myth #3, being a mom is tough. I will share with you how shifting your mindset can help you see life through a lens where life becomes easy.