Are you a watering can or a soaker hose?

Written by Kelly Epperson

I just found a stapler on the bathroom counter. I don't recall taking the stapler into the bathroom. I know I was not stapling toilet paper sheets back together. I was not doing a tummy tuck or attempting some kind of newfangled face lift. (However, you may want to check behind my ears for neck skin stapled up back there. I may be on to something.)

I'd taken the stapler from my office to my bedroom where I have several bags of items being donated to nonprofit events and stapled my business card to the bags. On the way back to the office, I obviously stopped in the bathroom and forgot the stapler there.

From bedroom to office is five steps, with bathroom smack in the middle. I guess I cannot go five steps without being distracted. Or being forgetful. If I had needed the stapler again, I'm pretty sure I would not have thought to look in the bathroom.

This past holiday season was a prime example of me trying to do many things at once. I burned the cookies in the oven, scorched the almond bark in the microwave, and left presents half-wrapped on the table. Trying to operate like I had eight hands reminded me that I have only one brain, and it works better when it can focus.

Many of us try to do many things at once. Talking on the phone while doing dishes was the norm before cell phones and dishwashers. Now people talk on our cells while grocery shopping. For those folks with the ear clip thing, I still think they are talking to themselves.

Many books and articles will proclaim multi-tasking as a good thing to do. I disagree. It is better if I do one thing, focus on that, check it off, and move to the next thing.

I still catch myself on the phone and reading email at the same time. The person I am talking to is not being given my full attention and the emails are not being fully comprehended so I'm doing a disservice to all.

Now when I answer my phone, I turn away from the computer. When I am writing, that gets my attention. When I am reading, that gets my attention. When I am speaking, that gets my attention. When I am listening, that gets my attention.

The most powerful tool we have is our attention. Think of it like a watering can. If I give a little bit here and a little bit there and a tad over there, nothing gets fully watered. Nothing will grow.

The experts say to water the grass deeply. Don't just bounce the sprinkler across the yard for thirty minutes here and then there and there. Give each area full attention and then move.

You could use a watering can, sprinkle a few drops over every little patch, and say, "I watered the whole yard." Will that grass thrive?

Our lives are like that. Each area needs proper care and attention, not just a distracted sprinkle. People, pets, places, all deserve our attention, not just a drop.

I have learned that it does not take any longer to do one thing, complete it, and then move on to the next. It is actually more efficient for me.

This year, I want to be a soaker hose, not a sprinkle can. The soaker hose lays on it, wraps around it, devotes itself to getting that area saturated. Its attention is focused. Ah, look at my garden grow.