Doing One Thing at a Time by Gil Fronsdal

To develop meditation practice on retreat, do just one thing at a time when you aren’t meditating. Throughout the day, whatever you are doing, just do that one thing. Give your attention wholly to the activity of the moment and see each activity through to its end. Avoid multitasking on retreat, as it fragments your attention.  Instead, devote yourself to what you are doing; this will unify your attention.

If you are eating, focus on just eating. Don’t eat and scan the dining room to study how others are eating. Stay mindful of eating. Don’t chew your food and think about issues in your life. Let chewing be the most important focus of the moment; think about your issues later. Instead of eating in a hurry, concerned with what is next, eat as if eating is your only concern. Wait to give your attention to what is next until it is time for what is next.

When walking somewhere, walk as if it is the only thing you need to do. No need for your eyes to roam to see what is happening around you. If you want to scan the environment, stop walking, then scan. Similarly, refrain from staring at something while you are walking. This will weaken your attention to the simple act of walking. If you want to look, stop walking, so looking can be the one thing you do. When you are finished looking, begin walking again. If you are walking from point A to point B, don’t veer off to point C. If, after getting to B, you decide to go to C, just do that. While this way of walking isn’t always necessary for daily life, it builds the continuity of mindfulness on retreat.

Doing one thing at a time during the ordinary activities on retreat strengthens your ability to do the same in meditation, that is, to simply meditate when meditating.  Training attention in any activity increases your capacity for attention in meditation.

A valuable way to do one thing at a time is to practice embodied attention with what you are doing. Engage with a posture that allows your whole body to feel involved in the activity. When washing your dishes, be grounded in your body and have both hands equally dedicated to the washing.  When mindfulness is rooted in somatic awareness, it tends to be more stable and supported.

Avoid doing things halfheartedly or non-committedly. If you are doing something, your life is too important to do it distractedly or partially. Any activity you do is where you can wake up.  Just about any retreat activity can be an occasion to let go of any resistance or reluctance you might have in doing the activity. You can discover peace and liberation in whatever you are doing.

By regularly practicing one thing at a time, you will gradually become familiar with the benefits of this simplicity.  You may feel what it is like for the body and mind to work together in harmony. You may appreciate being more settled, less entangled with your thoughts. This familiarity is helpful for meditation. Recognizing the first hints of calm and harmonious feelings can serve as biofeedback, guiding you to stay focused on your meditation.

Practicing one thing at a time, you begin to understand the disadvantages of being preoccupied with thinking. More and more, you can become less interested in distracting thoughts. Being aware becomes more interesting than being distracted.

When doing one thing at a time is challenging, it is beneficial to discover what emotions, impulses, desires, and thoughts fuel the challenge. Learning this outside of meditation will prepare you to apply this learning to your meditation. Train yourself to identify distractions, preoccupations, or reactivities that are either unworthy to pursue or important subjects for mindful attention.

One of the fruits of mature meditation practice is enjoying the attention to doing one thing at a time. Before this fruit ripens, practicing one thing at a time is the seed that, if watered, develops into this deep satisfaction with being present for each thing you are doing, including meditation.