Multi-Tasking

I've never been a multi-tasker. Ever. They say women are better multi-taskers.. well.. I'm not. It's a family joke, about how one-track minded I am. If I'm directing you to my house, I will always direct you via the way I use every day, even if there is a much more straightforward, faster way. It's a little inconvenient for the poor, unfortunate driver that I am directing, because the road I use every day to get home would be the route of the public transport - trains, trams, buses - so the poor, unfortunate driver has to sit in traffic driving me home when he could have turned off into that little side road, and taken the road parallel to the road that we are sitting on and shaved at least 10 minutes off driving time.

And yet at work, it astounds me everyday how my brain switches effortlessly into multi-task gear. At any time of the day, I am micro-managing about 10 things at once - photoshoots, photobriefs, invoices, estimates, job folders, approvals, clients, emails, phones, freelancers, deadlines, deliverables.. I really don't actually know how I keep track of them. And yet I do. Of course this means that anybody that stops me and tries to talk to me about something before warning me get a glazed, blank look that says 'I see your mouth moving but I am not hearing anything you're saying.'

I've learned to cope, though. Where I used to just nod inanely at whatever they're saying and walk away wondering what on earth that conversation was about, I now stop them midsentence with a "Haaaaang on, wait!" I take a minute to bookmark whatever I was thinking, file it away, and then say, "Okay, start from the top."

And of course there's the Post Its. Everywhere. Covering every inch of the desk. (Almost) As I type this, I have two Post Its on my laptop where my hands rest to type. One says - "Finest Hams - brf and app by 2 - call Jane!!" and another says "Artisan cancel tomorrow!!" Then there's another one with what looks like a shopping list: 1. Finest Hams - 2. Frozen Desserts - 3. Frozen Chicken - 4. Dried Fruit - not a shopping list, but a list of live projects on the table for the day. Whoever invented Post Its is a genius.. an absolute genius.

Once the clock ticks over and I am at home, the multi-tasking magic wears off. The carriage turns back into a pumpkin, the horses into mice, and the beautiful silk gown back into a housedress. The brain switches off. Frankly, I'm quite glad that my brain works that way.. because if it didn't.. well.. I'd never get any sleep. And I like my sleep.

Well.. there's my thought for the day!