Plant a Tree

“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”


Do you understand what that means?  Focus on what is going on now.  But we can’t focus on several things at once.  Our minds just don’t work that way. I am very bad for trying to do too many things at once.  I try to use lists because I focus better but mostly everything is all in my head and I'm running around like a mad woman.  I'm washing dishes and the kid wants a drink while the husband is talking to me about going to the store and dinner is on the stove.  I forget to get my son his drink.  I have no clue why my husband is going to the store (crap. Do I need milk?) And dinner is now about done cooking and I still have to put the potatoes on.  The whole time the water is running and I am still not done with the dishes.  Does that sound familiar?  At all?

Trying to do so many things at once isn’t efficient or healthy!  Who wants a crazy person living with them?

My loving and darling children used to wait until I was a crazy person.  I would have so much going on so I was only half listening.  There were extended curfews, chores being put off, getting ungrounded a day early …. I mean seriously.  They knew that I didn’t listen the entire time and they took advantage of it.  Who can blame them?  Served me right.

A few years ago I learned about mindfulness.  It was taught, so to speak.  And it did help with particular things.  If I was busy with one thing and my son asked me a question, I stopped what I was doing, made eye contact and listened.  He appreciated that and I heard every word he said. And really how long does it take to stop and listen?  I think it took me longer to type that.  

Focusing on one thing at a time makes you more productive.  Multi-tasking leads to confusion and inefficiency.  I am very bad for that.  I don’t have ADD but shiny things do tend to distract me.  I can’t sit and watch a TV show without making a to do list and messaging someone on FB.  I can’t cook dinner without looking up other things on my phone.  My phone is a big problem for me and I know that I’m not the only one.  It sidetracks you.

I got a new phone – just what I needed, lol and I was playing with the apps and the new little gadgets.  I came across this app called Forest.  Forest is a productivity app.  It’s a cute and funny concept but it totally worked for me.  You start this app and the default is 30 minutes.  I set mine to 60 when I tried it out the other day.  When you start this, you “plant a tree”.  For that hour your tree is growing and if you decide to start playing with your phone or exit the app your tree dies.  Now of course, it is not a real tree but for me it’s the concept. I really couldn’t believe how long that hour was.  I actually held my phone and watched it countdown the last 2 minutes.  I also forgot that I planted my tree and picked up my phone to do whatever more than several times.  I am not sure if this surprised me or not, but I know what DID surprise me is how many of us tolerate it from other people.

Planting the tree really worked for me and it made me mindful.  I still need to practice and even suggested to hubby that next time we go to dinner we should both plant a tree. I do have a lot going on in my head but I was forced to write it down and look at it later instead of taking time away from my family to be on my phone doing it right then.  So I wrote them down, and then the next day I planted another tree and looked at my list.  My house did not blow up. The sky did not fall.  I did get a little bit of anxiety but I got over it.  So being mindful isn’t going to hurt me and like I said, I do need to practice. It was a start.  Working from home make it SO easy to get sidetracked whether it’s sidetracked with family or house things or sidetracked with my business.  Being able to plant a tree to be mindful of what I am doing right now in that moment was rewarding.

Get the Forest app here