Everyone is busy. Just sounding out the word creates stress - go ahead, say it slowly. You have to grit your teeth and clench your gut, like it's a strain just to get through the utterance.
Everyone has lots to do. We always have. In fact, I would argue that many of the things we put on ourselves now and that we attend to on a regular basis are far less urgent than what our ancestors were "busy" with 1000 years ago or even 100 years ago. Their everyday tasks were often a matter of life or death: if you didn't kill something for dinner, everyone would go hungry. If you didn't walk down to the river for water, everyone would go thirsty. If you didn't make love to your wife regularly, your tribe would die out. If you didn't plant your garden at the right time, well, there goes your food store. It seems to me that perhaps what has changed is the focus on being busy rather than focusing on what we're doing. But perhaps every generation makes this observation on one level or another. Perhaps it's akin to generational observations on the disintegration of language - with every generation come a few traditionalists who scoff at modern language trends, slang, manners of speaking, and declare that language is dying. And those folks, though different with every generation, have been making these same observations for hundreds of years. And language, far as I can tell, is alive and well.
But, as usual, I digress.
Yes, everyone has a lot going on. But it's important to take some time to take it all in, to be kind to yourself, to have a sit down meal with your partner where you sit down for more than 10 minutes. And where no one is watching the clock. THAT is something that belongs in your planner. A half hour, an hour - spare what you can and make it a habit.
These snippets of time are like little mini vacations. And just like after any good vacation, afterwards you feel rejuvenated and together. UNlike most vacations, these are free and you can plan them as often as you want.
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When I'm feeling frazzled and spread out and generally anxious-loony-behind-the-invisible-schedule, at first I try to get everything done at the same time. Unsurprisingly, this never works. Usually after about an hour of that, I give up. Sometimes I lay down on the floor scowling. Other times I'll drive or walk around continuously changing my mind on where to go and thereby getting absolutely nowhere in more senses than one.
I had already started down the Crazy Frazzled Causeway by 9:00 this morning, so I dropped everything I was trying unsuccessfully to do and removed myself to this coffee shop to write. Writing is one thing that requires all of my attention when I do it. I absolutely cannot multi-task if writing is one of the tasks. I can't even multi-task mentally. Writing is a mono-task type of thing for me.
Baking is another mono-task thing for me. I can do other things while crusts are rising or while cookies are baking, but while I'm measuring and mixing and forming dough or dolloping dough, you had better hope that I'm all present and accounted for.
Figure out what makes you mono-task. And do it regularly.
If you haven't already figured it out, this is a way of tricking yourself into taking some time for yourself AND being productive. At the same time. Ssssshhhhhh, don't tell.
In the meantime, make yourself some delicious pancakes while you ponder your mono-tasking tendencies or lack thereof. After all, you have to eat.
Simple Pancakes
(adapted from Blackbird Bakery Gluten-Free, by Karen Morgan)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons almond flour
1/2 cup millet flour
2 tablespoons sorghum flour (rice flour will also work)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon guar gum
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1 cup Kefir (Buttermilk will also work. I use Kefir because it is 99% lactose free)
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, allowed to cool for 5 minutes
Olive oil or other high heat tolerant oil
In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
Add the eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter, whisking until smooth.
Heat a non-stick medium sized skillet over medium heat (or medium low if your stove runs hot or if you have an electric stove).
Flick some drops of water on your skillet when you think it's warm - if they dance and sizzle, it's ready.
Pour about a 2 inch puddle of oil into your pan and carefully spread it with a paper towel. I find this works MUCH better than tilting the pan because you have an evenly coated pan without puddles of extra grease.
Using a 1/4 or 1/3 cup measuring cup, scoop batter up and plop it onto your pan.
For the first round, just do one pancake. That'll give you a chance to see how much they spread so you know if you can fit two, and you'll get a feel for how fast they brown and whether or not you need to adjust the heat. And you can see if you need to adjust the size of your scoop.
When bubbles appear, go ahead and flip. It will likely be about 3 minutes-ish.
Flip your pancake, let it cook for about a minute on that side (should be golden brown), and then remove to a warm oven while you proceed with the rest.
After each batch, pour a bit more oil in your pan and wipe with a paper towel. I have found this method to work better than anything else I've tried.
If you're tempted to use butter to cook them, that's fine, but just keep a close eye on the heat and on any blackening butter in the pan. It burns a lot more quickly than oil, and the wiping between batches is a LOT more annoying.
Meal planning note: you can mix together the dry ingredients as far ahead of time as you like. Just keep them in an airtight container.
Here's to a balanced day and working towards a balanced life, one Mono-Task at a time.
~Stacey
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