I multitask, therefore I am

In this month's issue of Publix's Greenwise magazine was an unintentionally hilarious article on reducing stress and saving time. One of their insights was to "rethink multi-tasking". I giggled when I read it. Really. Without multitasking how the heck would you ever get anything done?! I'm not talking about bad multitasking like driving and reading your mail. I'm talking about the 100,000 things I do - simultaneously - on a daily basis.

I can only assume the article was written by a man because most men, and by "men" I mean "my husband", are pretty bad at multitasking. Mr. J can't coordinate going to lunch and getting a haircut at the same time, never mind the totally efficient multitasking that I, and most women/moms I know, engage in on a daily basis. He also tends to get very aggravated when he sees me multitasking - he says it makes him feel like he's in the middle of a tornado. I say he's just jealous that I can get so much done in the same time it takes him to do just one thing. After which he'll claim exhaustion and need to go sit on the porch for 2 hours.

Even as I write this, I'm doing laundry, making a batch of cookies, finishing a round of emergency vacuuming since Anders decided it would be a good idea to pull the cover off the a/c return vent (with an air filter that hasn't been changed in a year - yeccch), and getting lunch/snacks ready for Dagny's afternoon playdate. Top that!

Now Greenwise did have a decent point - you must try to coordinate your multitasking so that you are doing tasks with similar concentration points at the same time, e.g., folding laundry and watching DVR'd episodes of "Good Eats". As opposed to trying to do your taxes and clean out a closet at the same time. It's probably not a good idea to try to multitask any financial-type activity. No one is getting hurt if your cookies don't turn out right, but you don't want to mess with your money, right?

At that's the thing about women/moms - we've got a LOCK on this multitasking business. I may look like chaos as I whirl through the house cleaning, straightening, piling, moving, cooking, squirting (Slatkin's Winter scent - awesome!) and fluffing, but I know exactly what I'm doing. And I'm getting it all done TODAY.