Multi-tasking

I must be the world’s worst multi-tasker. Give me a job, I’ll do it. Give me another job while I’m doing my first job, and I’ll fluster about and fail miserably at both.

Dinner was supposed to be easy after my busy day, and it would have been if I hadn’t set myself up for failure by multi-tasking. Instead of waiting in the kitchen for the food to get hot enough to turn down to a simmer, I used the waiting time to put some laundry away. You probably can guess what happened—I burned the food.

Life as mom would be impossible if I didn’t multi-task some of the time, but when it comes to my children’s safety, I have to make sure I have no distractions. But distractions can come easily when you’re doing a mindless task.

So I have developed strategies to help keep me focused and pull me back to details I forget when I’m multi-tasking. For instance, one strategy is using a kitchen timer on even extremely basic tasks. If I had set the timer for 60 seconds while I was cooking the other night I would not have left it on high heat to be burned. Timers are a great help for those of us who are lousy at tackling two things at once.

Sticky notes is another help. Little reminders written and placed where they’re most needed can help stop me from making a mistake.

I don’t know if anyone else suffers from a one-track mind, but if you’re like me, you need these kinds of tips.