"Women are good at multi-tasking"

[HennyPennyHorror]

I've heard so many women say this...like it's something to be proud of.

AIBU to think it's actually bullshit. Probably some man came up with it as a way of getting out of doing more?

"Oh yes! Scientifically proven that women are better at multi-tasking!"

Don't think so.

[Mousetolioness]

I hate job ads that ask for multi-tasking as a skill. I start a job and find I then have to start something else and I lose all flow on the first task. By the time there have been multiple interruptions and I've revisited earlier tasks multiple times I'm often bored to death of them.

[Lllot5]

I can drink coffee and eat biscuits does that count.

[Dungeondragon15]

Dh comes down and puts the tv on and stands scratching his balls and when he's finished doing that..then puts the right channel on!

That doesn't mean he can't multitask! He just doesn't want to. Why would he when you will do it for him?

[chocolatelog]

Dh can't multi task for shit.

I'll come down and put the kettle on and while it's boiling, I've been for a piss, opened the blinds, put a load of washing on and turned the tv on for the kids and put the right channel on for them.

Dh comes down and puts the tv on and stands scratching his balls and when he's finished doing that..then puts the right channel on!

He fucks me off no end..

[FuzzyShadowChatter]

I agree it's bullshit. I don't mind so much when women say it about themselves, but so often I find people say it to women to put more pressure on when we're struggling with lots of things at once as if we're somehow being bad women or just need to try harder - that pisses me off.

I had someone recently go on about this at me and how I'm meant to be good at multi-tasking because I'm a woman. I was discussing how I struggle to read and listen to music with lyrics or do either hold a conversation or watch TV or write anything that needs more than a little bit of thought at the same time. It seems having more than one source of words and either I struggle to handle any of them or, more typically, my brain entirely blanks out all but one of them. It makes listening to audiobooks or similar difficult as my brain keeps blanking it out and missing parts if something else with words happens. I manage my work and time around knowing how my brain works and having someone act like they know it better because of my sex is really annoying.

[thecatsthecats]

blueskiesovertheforest

I have re-termed it 'microtasking' for this reason - being able to slot parts of larger tasks into a concurrent pattern in order to get them done more swiftly.

I am actually weirdly moderately good at genuine multitasking, but I find it annoys my colleagues if I type whilst talking to them etc.

[borntobequiet]

Some women are, some are not. Similarly men.

[Dungeondragon15]

I have never met a man who can multitask.

You mean that you have never met a man who wants to multitask. There is a difference.

[Dungeondragon15]

I really hate it when people suggest that there is a difference between men and women when it comes to "multitasking". Firstly, it is sexist crap and no different to saying that all women are good at English whereas all men are good at maths. Secondly, I think it is one of the reasons that so many women take on the mental load which ultimately effects their careers.

[RaspberryBeret34]

I'm useless at multitasking! Many men I've met are much better at it than I am.

Everyone is different, but it is often said about women as a way of getting them to do the 'double shift' (or should that be 'triple'?) of work, home organization and childcare. I totally agree with this.

[Springisallaround]

I am not very good at multi-tasking sadly, but am extremely focused when I work on one particular task. I think multi-tasking is something some people are good at- I have a friend who is great at doing this at home, and also at work, her organizational skills are second to none. I know I'm not like that, get easily flustered by multi-tasks and would prefer to deep focus. Everyone is different, but it is often said about women as a way of getting them to do the 'double shift' (or should that be 'triple'?) of work, home organization and childcare.

[goingonabearhunt1]

I'm rubbish at multi-tasking, prefer to focus on one task at a time and finish it properly. TBH I don't think most people are great at it, just means you're doing lots of things half arsed. My DP though can read an article and watch TV at the same time, it just makes me confused if I try and do that and I end up reading the same sentence 20 times.

[Halloumimuffin]

I think it should be called task-switching rather than multitasking, because unless you are literally doing a different thing with each limb, you are still only doing one thing at a time, just in quicker succession.

Sorry, pedantic bugbear of mine and completely irrelevant to the OP.

[tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz]

What Cole and Senior said.

I agree it's one those things I hear both sexes saying often.

Similarly when a phone call is required to reserve a table, book tickets or the like, DH who for a living manages billionty pounds every day says "Can you do it? You're so much better at that kind of thing?" WTF? It's a phone call

[AnnaNutherThing]

My DH and I have swapped roles then.

It's surely individual.

[ThereIsNoSuchThingAsRoadTax]

There is no good evidence of any sex differences in multi-tasking
link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00426-018-1045-0

[BigButtons]

I have never met a man who can multitask.
I am very good at it.

[EssentialHummus]

Unpacking the dishwasher while the kettle's boiling is being organised rather than multitasking.

I am. It pisses me off no end that DH isn't. Never mind the acrobatics of childcare and housework, I can get a fry-up, toast and tea on the table in 20 minutes flat. DH? Literally an hour. Makes me rage.

[MrsJamin]

@Rufusthebewilderedreindeer

[Rufusthebewilderedreindeer]

I always tell dh that i can muti task as i can shower and have a wee at the same time

Its a joke but its send him off on a rant every time

Ive got to get my fun any way i can

[TheYoungOffendersMum]

I'm wonderful at it!

I can simultaneously: breathe, think, move limbs, talk, observe my surroundings, hear stuff (though hearing is impaired), and notice if my kids have done a silent but violent fart.

I don't think that's the kind of multitasking you're meaning though

[AnnaNutherThing]

I'm awful at it.

I'm not a man, I don't think..

[ISaySteadyOn]

So if, like me, you're rubbish at multitasking, does that mean you fail at womaning properly?

[blueskiesovertheforest]

Supposedly genuine multitasking is a myth anyway - the name's a bit deceptive.

Unpacking the dishwasher while the kettle's boiling is being organised rather than multitasking.

1. Put the kettle on - aware it takes 3 minutes to boil and no other tea making tasks need completing in this time
   
2. unpack dishwasher, which takes 3 minutes
   
3. Make tea using freshly boiled water.
   
   Actually trying to do two things simultaneously would be putting tea bags in mugs, pouring boiling water, fetching and adding milk while putting knives and forks and plates away with the other hand, which would clearly be a terrible idea.
   
   Most people can't text and walk simultaneously without problems, walking and talking are about the limit.

[MrsJamin]

It really gets my goat when people say women are better at multitasking. Thankfully I also have men I my life who also find that idea sexist. My husband can multi-task like the rest of them, so can a male colleague of mine. You can do what you learn and spend lots of time doing according to what you have to do, so women learn it if they are in a position to have to learn it or risk wasting time. The stay at home dads I have known did a great job of getting things done. Brain plasticity, people!