The myth of multitasking

Once upon a time, there was a midle manager in the public servant who prided herself on her ability to multitask.

Juggling several balls in the air was what she did best and she NEVER dropped one.

Ha!

Let me tell you about the myth of multitasking, something that we working mums pretend we are really good at.

It's simple, if we try to do too many things at once, we will fail. Something will give and balls will be dropped. And Murphy's law ensures that the dropped balls will be biggees - Ministerial bringing papers, cabinet submissions, board papers.

It's one thing to brush your teeth while putting on your stockings. It's an entirely different thing to check your emails,  or talk on the phone,  while editing a policy-speak document into plain English.

So why do smart working mums continue to multitask?

Maybe it is because we feel things won't get done if we don't do several things at once. But guess what, if we multitask, there's still a good chance things won't get done. Or at least won't get done very well.

 So, let's put the myth of multitaksing behind us and work on one thing at a time. We will all feel better for it.