Say Hello to the Multi-Failer!

There’s that old joke isn’t there?! You know the one I mean… that women can multi-task and men can’t?! Actually to be fair, I have seen a number of men multi-task quite well, which I know was a shock horror moment for me too! I’m not sure if it’s that we as women expect it of ourselves, expect it of each other, that men expect us to be able to multi-task or what, but somehow us gals have earned the right to be know as multi-taskers. However, I have decided that I am now going to be dubbing myself as the multi-failer. Yes I can multi-task as much as the next person…woman…person but the number of times this goes disastrously wrong is rising, especially since having had a baby. I am not sure my brain has the capacity anymore to multi-task more than a few things before it gives up and is like NOPE NOPE I am going on strike. Don’t let me be the judge though, you decide, am I a multi-tasker or a multi-failer?

As a parent, whether that be a single parent like me or otherwise, I think they put it in the parental job description that you must be able to multi-task. Especially as they get older as they become a lot more demanding and a lot less patient but I have found the art of distraction works really well to aid me in multi-tasking. For example, we are currently in the processes of moving house and so I need to spend my time packing because it is a HUGE house and we haven’t been given a lot of time to do it in. Now, Alyssa got bored with packing about two seconds after she realised that I wasn’t going to let her take out of the boxes what I had put in. So, I cleared a space in amongst the packing and set up a playdough/paint section which obviously she wanted me to do too. So I found myself moving around the table and talking to my little one, whilst packing as I go and stopping to make playdough animals and shapes or stamp sponges onto paper in an artistic way – wait until I unpack the other end and I sure we will find crockery with thumb prints in bright green paint.

Another time in my life when I need to be able to multi-task is when I am working – generally without any extras open, I have 15-20 internet pages open at a time, not to mention emails, documents, photo editors, folders and sometimes music too. This is terrible for my OCD  as I like this organised but I do infact actually need all these tabs open because I will find myself doing a million things at once in order to get through it all – I will have draft posts open, social media pages, image sources, scheduling program, linky programs and anything else I might need. I will also have a notepad and pen so that I can make myself notes and keep track of where I am up to. This is particularly important when I am doing paid work and keeping track of which stage I am at. However, at some point during my working time I will just stop and be like arggghhhh – this will be because I am trying to do too much at once and I lose my place and I’ll end up writing an email that begins “Hello Laura, How are you lovely?!” whereas in fact I should of written “Dear Dave, please find attached…” Poor Dave!

Did you know that it’s actually National Multi-Tasking Day on 24th May?! I know, how on earth did they work out when to have such a day – apparently there was an equation developed by an expert to work out the busiest day of the year and they came out with May 24th…

Summer holidays to book, hay fever in full force and the looming anxiety of half term holidays are enough to make any parent feel panicked. And that’s not to mention the added work pressure which two bank holidays can bring. 

Now, as you may have gathered I am not the best multi-tasker…just ask my phone which took an unfortunate trip down a u-bend last month when I was trying to multi-task and could not be saved, but nevertheless I am trying to get onboard with the day and be less of a multi-failer and much more of the stereotypical woman multi-tasker. To be fair to myself I’m not actually that bad and I do achieve a hell of a lot so I can’t be that bad but I would like to get better. So I’m going to be taking some advice from time-management expert, Mike Gardner.

“Plan ahead, and focus on managing difficult tasks at your most productive time of day, and tackle the easier ones when you feel less energetic. Use the day as a springboard to knock long-term tasks off your list and free up time for summer. Embrace the day whilst you’re at your most productive, make the most of it and live life to the full.”

Nature’s Finest, will also be supporting National Multi-Tasking Day and will be sharing tips over on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram throughout the day in order to help multi-failers like me (we’re not THAT bad really) make the most of the day so that we can get as much done as possible… and maybe take it a bit easier the rest of the week!

So what do you reckon, are you a tasker or a failer? Do you have any nifty trips for being able to multi-task?! Why not come share them with Nature’s Finest and I, over on social media now?!