Don’t Try This at Home. Multi-tasking Fails Again.

Posted on by curioussteph

I’m not actually much of a multi-tasker, preferring to focus intently on whatever it is that I am doing. Current research shows that multi tasking is actually a misnomer, people are actually switching their attention back and forth between different activities. That said, my brain is a pretty busy place, and particularly when doing routine tasks, I’ll be thinking about a few other things, and that’s where things start to break down in what I find to be amusing ways. So for entertainment’s sake, I present the following, and welcome your contributions in the comments.

Walking into my bedroom, I’m intent upon removing my sweaty running gear and changing into errand running clothes. My shirt and sports bra come off, destined for the laundry basket, which will be emptied tomorrow.  Might as well throw this other shirt and my nightgown in, too. Getting out a clean nightgown, I put it on. Hmmm. Not what I usually wear to the bank and supermarket.

I’m puttering about the kitchen, putting dishes and pans away, waiting for the kettle to boil. Lucy the cat strolls in, yowling, wanting something. It’s always something with Lucy. How about cat food? Time for a new can. I open it up, chatting away to the demanding cat, while the kettle signals that the water is boiled. I catch myself before I put hot water on Lucy’s snack. I’ve also run a variation on this particular exercise, putting the tea bags in the cat dishes.

Life and minds can be messy. For me, I do best when I can be amused by the mess. Makes it faster getting back to an illusion of semi-control. Off to the beach, which is always messy.

 

<a href=”https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/messy/”>Messy</a>

9 thoughts on “Don’t Try This at Home. Multi-tasking Fails Again.”

  3. I’ve had similar discussions about the nature of multi-tasking with friends: I can’t say I’ve read the research, but it does seem to me that successful multi-taskers (or those who appear to be multi-tasking) are actually very good at balancing and shifting priorities as a situation unfolds. When someone is really good at that, it just looks like they are doing all things at once very competently!

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    1. They’ve actually done scans of multitasking and it is rapid switching between tasks. There are a few things I can do that way, but my neurology is better suited to deep dives (endurance mind rather than sprinter, just like my muscles–wonder if there’s any correlation?)

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      1. I’ve wondered the same thing as I’d describe myself in the same way: I’ve always tended to have a handful of interests or hobbies that I go deep with, rather than a multitude that I’m constantly swinging between.

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Published by curioussteph

June 2017: I started writing Curioussteph.com with this: By day, I'm a retired family physician turned body-oriented psychotherapist. I garden, travel, am owned by 2 elderly cats, figure skate and am training for my first triathlon. April 2020: Three years later, the two elderly cats have crossed the rainbow bridge, and we now have an 11 year old adoptee, Ziggy. I'm done with triathlon and skating for the time being, and I am still physically active, running, biking and walking. It's now the time of the coronavirus, which is affecting us all.