Carried Away with Double Tasking

Last night I caught myself trying to balance my cell phone against my shoulder while brushing my teeth and trying to talk to my dad...as you can imagine, I wasn't able to do either task very well. I couldn't really TALK to my dad while I was brushing my teeth and trying to brush your teeth with your head leaning onto your shoulder while trying not to drop the phone isn't very effective either. Then I realized, what the heck am I doing? I am clearly getting a little too obsessed with trying to get things done efficiently, accomplish all the little tasks that build up, AND get into bed at a decent time. But as I think about it, the way our society is becoming, everywhere you look there are "time savers" that allow you to do lots, at once. This morning I walked out of my house to drive to work at 8:30am and watched a young woman walking her dog down the street while talking loudly on her cell phone to a friend about some problems she's having...the poor dog was was being starved of attention during his/hers one time of day she/he has to spend with his owner...I realized I wasn't getting to have a very quality conversation with my dad while trying to brush my teeth too. I often find myself checking e-mail while talking to my friends on the phone (or vice versa) and realize, why are we talking on the phone when we aren't really focusing on having a quality interaction? This has all been a reminder that I need to bring a little mindfulness back into my life and take the time needed to focus on important conversations AND tasks...like brushing my teeth, but doing them at the same time only jips them both.