I've heard it said that men are not good at multi-tasking. I'm sure that's not true of all men, and there are certainly some women who are similarly challenged, but in my house it is a fact and a bit of an annoyance. For instance, my darling husband is not good at prioritizing tasks that need doing around the house, not because he doesn't work very hard every weekend doing things, but because he has trouble sticking to one thing and getting it done. I've encouraged him to make a list of things that need fixing or making or painting, etc, and not to jump to the second on the list until the first is done. That way we wouldn't have a half-painted window frame for a month. But this inability to multi-task means he is easily pulled from one thing to another and the first is then out-of-mind.Another place I see this is the way I'm constantly picking up coins from the floors in our bedroom and bathroom. Now, the fact that men are always losing coins from their pockets is another issue worth exploring, but that's for another time. Right now I need to wonder why I'm the only one who can see these coins on the floor? Is walking and looking at the floor another multi-tasking challenge? How many times have I said "Why didn't you pick this up?" only to be told he "didn't notice it".....really? (I actually think this is "selective seeing", very similar to "selective hearing" in the male species)
Well, multi-tasking might be women's strength, but it seems to me it could be a learned skill. But how can we get them to want to learn it?
(And I now offer this space to my husband for equal time - no doubt he could rant about plenty when it comes to living with me!)
2 comments:
My dear Barbara. That is because men have such fertile minds we must sow the seeds of our creativity generously. And we do multi task. Witness the multipe task we engage ourselves with. Indeed we multi task to a fault. So much so we can't complete the task.
As to the coin issue I have no response. Other than most men are farther away from the floor and may not be able to see that far down.
LOL
Ben...surely you must mean the way men can watch a sporting event on tv while eating way too many snacks? (multi tasking of men!)
Barbara...I have similar project issues. I, too, have encouraged list making... prioritize according to time constraints...but to no avail. Ah well...what can I say?
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