07
Jan
2022

TO MULTI-TASK OR NOT TO MULTI-TASK

Do you work on several projects/chores at once, rotating between them, or do you do one thing at a time, not starting the next until the current one is finished? I work the first way. It’s not really multi-tasking, even though I may have several tasks in progress at the same time, because you can only work on one thing at a time.

Right now, I have laundry going (the wash load is done, waiting on the dryer, which takes forever), the tree is halfway denuded of ornaments (all of which are laid out on the dining room table because I still have to go bring in the boxes from the storage room), and I am 95% done with my blog book layout (I’m reading through and checking things to make sure there are no formatting errors), though I expect to be done with it today and send it to print. I just went in online to work and handled three tickets, plus answered some emails but I made myself logout and turn off the laptop when I was done so I’m not tempted to go back in and do anything else. Today is a vacation day, damn it! I’ve already stripped the bed, and done a quick grocery store run (dropping Martin off at the bus station to go to work while I was at it). I still need to take the recyclables out to the bins…the garbage truck was just here and they better have emptied the ones for plastics and cardboard or I’m going to through a hissy fit since they’ve been full for weeks.

I find I get more done if I bounce between projects. If I get a little tired of one thing, I can leave it, go work on something else, and come back to it when the siren call of “finish me” starts singing. I don’t get stressed out that there are several things going at once. Anders is the other kind of person. He works on one thing until it’s done before he can start the next. He gets super stressed out if he has too many things on his to-do list. He has to take them one by one. Isn’t that weird? Good thing there are so many kinds of people in the world and that we can all figure out what method works best for us.

In addition to alternating the tasks/chores/projects I’m working on, I intersperse plenty of “down” time in between, too. I’ll sit down on the sofa and read a few chapters of my current book, or spend 20 minutes playing mindless iPad games, or scroll through Instagram, or answer emails. I’ll work on the jigsaw puzzle. I’ll think about other things that might need to be added to my never-ending to-do list. 😀 I actually feel pretty caught up in regards to projects and chores. Laundry is constant, so that doesn’t count. And I don’t have any major projects waiting for me at the moment. I am enjoying being a slug in between getting things done at my own pace, and I have today off to relax, and the weekend still ahead of me.

Tomorrow we have no plans (though the kids are busy elsewhere), so I’ll continue taking down the tree and packing up Christmas. On Sunday, I’m going with Debbie and Camilla to Breakfast Bio—an early morning movie at Spegeln in Malmö, with breakfast included. We’re seeing Spencer, with Kirsten Stewart playing Princess Diana. I don’t really care about Diana, and I’m not a huge Stewart fan but she’s been getting really good reviews for her portrayal, and it’s fun to combine a movie with breakfast and my two best friends, so I’m keeping an open mind. I’m hoping that Spegeln has limited seating, unlike Filmstaden when we saw Spiderman the other day and it was a packed salon. Even though you had to show your vaccination pass to get in, it still felt off that the place was filled. As far as I know, Spegeln limits the number of people allowed, which makes much more sense.

i just thought of another chore I need to do, so I’ll wrap up this post, and go empty the garbage cans, and then I can rotate through everything else once more before I sit down to read again.

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