If we are overwhelmed with a myriad of things to do, that should be a wake up call to us that there is an underlying problem. If we think that the mere fact that we have a lot to do is the problem then we have already made our first mistake. The problem, more precisely identified, is that we have not determined with sufficient clarity which of the tasks in front of us are most important.
The habit forming nature of the mind is the cause of this scattered approach from which most of us suffer from time to time. We are accustomed to following any distraction that comes to mind instead of bringing the mind back to the present moment where we would be happier and more peaceful. If we do not have a firm understanding of our priorities and how they relate to the tasks we need to undertake, we will be at the mercy of distractions because they will appear more pressing then they actually are.
If we were able to determine what we really want in life to be satisfied, we would not have to waste time with distractions. We would have clarity about what to do next. We would not be concerned with looking for a variety of things to do because we would know that one thing only, our top priority, will lead to the result we desire.
That one thing that we need to do is bring the mind back into the present moment. Learning how to do that requires training because the concept of mindfulness is more subtle than the popular understanding of the term. If we train correctly, our mindfulness will be light and easy instead of difficult and heavy. It will bring us a peaceful abiding even amidst difficulty. Grounded in the positive results we observe, mindfulness will become our new habit.