Early in the morning as I was sipping my morning coffee, attempting to think about the day ahead of me while wiping the sleep from my exhausted eyes. I was contemplating just how valuable time can be.

We all have 24 hours in the day and some people seem to utilize that time more efficiently than others.  Then as I was staring at the three loads of laundry I had not put away, two more stinky loads ready to be washed, the stack of papers on my kitchen island ready to be sorted, and the many additional thoughts going through my head about what I have to accomplish for the day.

Don’t get me wrong, as a single mompreneur; I know JUST how precious each moment of time is and how my future and my children’s future is dependent upon how efficiently I choose to spend my time.

What the early morning pre-coffee rush of thoughts that were going through my head was that our mental clarity and perspective is what is the most valuable asset to entrepreneurs.

When I think of moms and multitasking, it always reminds me of the cartoon strip where the mom octopus has each of her tentacles occupied tending to a baby, ironing, talking on the phone while cooking supper and her taxes all at the same time.

 

Mom’s do manage to master the art of multitasking quite well.  Professionals and entrepreneurs pick up on this skill very effectively also.  The trouble that it usually gets us in is how we perceive what we are doing. The stress we face and how exhausted we feel when we multitask.

As I was standing in my kitchen staring at all the things I should be doing this early morning.   I needed to get my kids up and off to school so I could start my day in the office grinding out production towards my goals and my future.  However, the thought occurred to me, how I choose to manage my thoughts and my ability to look past the ‘to-do’ list is much more important at this moment.

Although, this is a HUGE challenge for my borderline OCD type A personality.  My brain is telling me that there truly are only so many hours in the day and time is so very precious.  Why spend that time worrying about laundry not being folded?  Why spend that time in anguish over what is not getting accomplished and what should be done for the day?

For the very reason of avoiding too much mind wandering, I have adopted a morning ritual that always resets my mind frame and keeps me on track throughout the day.  If I miss my morning mental cleaning routine and get rushed or sidetracked, then I tend to get stuck in my head and start worrying about the millions of other things I should or could be doing, my mind is not as clear or focused.

Today was one of those mornings where I had to remind myself of the outcome of my thoughts.  Each and every moment we should be mindful of our thoughts, but today was an especially important lesson to remind me that worrying about things really is just not that important.

I had a choice at that moment.  I could rush around and do the laundry, quickly clean up the kitchen and squeeze in twenty more tasks that may make the house look better.   Yes, it might make me feel more accomplished that these things were completed.

However, my mind has not had a chance to clear and sit and reflect for a moment.  So instead of worrying and get caught in a spiral of nonsense, I choose today to go outside in the rain and spend ten minutes in my morning mind ritual of clearing my head.

I had a choice of how I would view my time and the outcome I wanted. Each moment is a choice.  Just as I sit at my computer at this very moment, I am looking at my office and realizing I have not organized it in a while.  Anyone walking in my office would likely just turn around and walk back out.  Oh, I would prefer to have my office more organized, but at this moment I have to guard my thoughts and choose not to let it bother me so that I can focus on how I would like to train my brain.  If it were to bother me, then I would lose close to an hour being frustrated with how hard it is to manage …

At the end of the day, who cares if the kitchen is a mess and there are baskets of laundry.  I would rather have a healthy positive state of mind. It means that I choose to spend 10 or 15 minutes outside smelling the rain and clearing my head in order to calm myself.  It means I decide to give this gift to myself and those that I will impact throughout the day.  It means that some things are just more important.

Yes, time is truly valuable.  But without the right mindful mental state of mind, how are we really spending our time?

For me, ultimately,  it means to spend quality time with my children before they leave for the day, or in the evening when they get home, then sorry laundry, you are just going to have to wait!