Multi-tasking – Just Asking

It never ceases to amaze me when my husband and I discuss something that one of us has read and he will be in total agreement and I will be shaking my head in disbelief.

It usually begins with him telling me about something that he read that really clicked with him.  He found someone with whom he can relate.  Someone who understands him.  Someone who’s been writing what my husband’s been feeling.   Great.  But sometimes I just shake my head and think, “You’ve got to be kidding?”

Do we often have similar opinions?  Well, yes and no.  That’s a complex answer for a simple question.  Sometimes I can read his mind and we’re totally on the same page.  Other times… well… I can admit here that I think to myself “I’m married to a person with this idiotic opinion!”  But just to myself….  wink

Opposites attract.  Yep.  Hubby and I have the same basic values, ethics, morals, and all that jazz but maybe it’s a male/female thing because on the issues in which we disagree, we disagree BIG.

Hubby mentioned seeing an article written about a rich, famous CEO who when asked about his “secret” to becoming successful said that he never does more than one thing at a time.   My first thought was “Only a man could have the luxury of doing one thing at a time and still be a great success.”  When Dave (the husband) told me this story my second thought was, “I know where this is going.”  He went on and on about the fact that someone so successful shared this trait with him.  Dave didn’t say it that way but I knew why he was telling me this story.  We’re very different in this respect and we don’t understand this opposite trait in each other.

Is it typical male behavior to do just one thing at a time?  Is it more of a female thing to multi-task?  Not sure but that’s the way it is in this household.  Always has been.  Not that there’s anything wrong with either way but each of us can NOT understand why the other is the way they are. 

I can not for the life of me understand how my husband gets by only doing one thing at a time.  He can not see how I can simultaneously be doing 12 things and get anything done.

Here are pictures of my kitchen yesterday:

My laptop was running Dave White’s “eBay and Beyond” talk show yesterday while I was simultaneously making cookies, listing auctions, doing laundry, making tea, and doing dishes.  The orange spray cleaner was left out to use for cleaning up the mess I would eventually make.  Don’t ask me about the green ground strip.  I have no idea why it’s been on the dishwasher for a month week next to the purple cat brush kitchen utensil.   😉

  

Here is my cookie sheet at the ready, my tube of cookie dough made the day before, and my electric hotpot all plugged in and ready for my tea break.  “eBay and Beyond” was still going strong and I hadn’t missed a word.

Who can do just one thing at a time?  Obviously, not me.

Today, it came back to bite me though.  I nearly burned down the kitchen while I was boiling cooking tomato soup on the stove for lunch.  By the time I got back into the kitchen after listing “just one more auction”  it had boiled over and run down the front of the stove to the floor, not missing the insides of the pull out drawers on the way down.  Tomato chaos.  Monday Bloody Monday.  One big mess.  Set me back a half hour by the time I cleaned it all up.

Should’ve been doing one thing at a time today.  Also should’ve left out that orange spray cleaner.

Are you a multi-tasker or a one-at-a-timer?  I’d love to hear from you.