Mastering the Work + Life Juggle and Developing a System to Get it All Done  

I once heard that if men want to understand what being inside a woman’s mind is like, they should imagine an internet browser with 1,000 tabs open simultaneously.  It’s funny, though, because it’s true.  I recently tried to explain this to my husband.  It’s not just that I’m worried about my end of month reporting for work,  or the fact my performance review is due before reporting is even available for me to properly analyze my results.  It’s also that I’m simultaneously remembering that I never filled out the school bus form for kindergarten, that the “letter of the week” is “J”…

Ah yes, the multitasking working woman: even if you are a mother, a wife, both, or neither, you can still bet you are a sister, or friend, or daughter, and that you play many other roles that involve others.  Add those to the self-identified roles, like the Zumba-enthusiast, the Pinterest project expert, the creative cook, and you’ve got many priorities to juggle at any time of the day.

At this stage of life, for many women, multitasking probably seems second nature; to do one thing alone just isn’t possible, let alone efficient.  If you did all things alone and to completion, you would actually never complete all the tasks you need to every day — so, we multitask.  We all do it.  And we do it well.  But let’s face it:  with a little forethought and formulas, we could do it better.

Following is a list of common scenarios in any working woman’s life – and their alternate, more organized versions – where “messy gets mastered,” and methodology rules!

Multitasking Mess:   Cooking Dinner + Cleaning House

You get home and you know you need to get dinner started, but the state of the house is making you crazy.   You put the pasta water on, and grab the jackets left on the couch, start walking toward the coat closet, and see the mail left on the console table.  Knowing you may completely miss paying that bill when someone comes in and sets their art project on top of it and accidentally stuffs it in their backpack tomorrow morning, you grab the envelope and run it to the office’s bill in-box.  Jackets still in hand, you see a calendar that reminds you tomorrow is your Zumba class.  You run to your room to grab your work-out clothes to add to tomorrow’s things and drop the jackets on the bed as you do.  Before you can grab the jackets again, you remember the pasta water has probably boiled down considerably by now, and run back to the kitchen.  Substitute pasta water to something more easily burned and ruined, and the night ends with a shrieking smoke alarm and a call for take-out.

Multitasking Mastery:  Cooking dinner + Cleaning + Connecting

Location matters with mutltasking: you may be doing many things at once, but if, for instance, in the kitchen, you keep the location of your activities small and tight, you will be aware of the state of the stove.  You can be scrubbing up this morning’s breakfast dishes or unloading the dishwasher. You can wipe down the counters after you chop your vegetables and pre-load the prep utensils.  The point is, hold yourself back from running into other room as tasks occur to you.  Instead, jot them on a notepad, so you don’t lose sight of them later.

Or, all the while, you could be connecting virtually by talking hands-free on your cell to your mother/sister/best-friend/you name it. You could be just catching up or discussing a problem or deciding on plans, presents, etc. Or you could be connecting in-person with your partner or child(ren) sitting at a counter or helping out, talking about your days.   It’s a good time to quiz a school-aged child on math facts or sit a smaller child down in front of the fridge with the ABC magnets.  An alternative would be calming down after the day by listening to a book for pleasure or purpose.

Multitasking to get your tasks done is mandatory.  But adding a multi-element that is for pleasure is extra-credit, and what makes you the master.  I don’t truly enjoy cooking, but everyone has to eat, and I do know how to do it.  So I make it more enjoyable by coming into the kitchen after a long day and lighting candles and putting a book on CD in the kitchen sound system. This makes olive oil and Palmolive secondary to the ambience I’ve created – and, thus, rather than a drudging task, I find myself enjoying the evening.

Multitasking Mess:  Working from Home + Children

Whether it’s during actual working hours or you are putting in hours in the evening to finish a project or report, working from home and spending time with your child(ren) (or even partner) isn’t the best combination.  No one is getting ideal attention, and you can’t concentrate on the task at hand.  The interruptions are slowing down your flow (“Where was I, again?  Did I run those numbers already? I should double check”).  Wait till kids or partners are off to bed, off to work or school, or otherwise distracted to tackle real work priorities.

Multitasking Mastery:  Working from Home + Laundry

Laundry seems to be the insurmountable task that you hardly want to start because finishing it seems to be the worst part.  But working from home gives you an opportunity to set goals and punctuate pauses with laundry milestones.  Toss in a load and promise yourself to stay focused on a project, document, report, etc. until the cycle is over. Then throw it in the dryer and get back to that same or a new, focused task.

Or, plan a conference call/work check-in meeting that requires mostly listening and talking (and only intermittent typing) to take advantage of time to fold and put away your laundry.   By the time your team has decided where the team-building event can take place and who needs to accomplish what tasks, you will have the laundry accomplished!

Multitasking Maybe:  Eating (or Drinking) + Connecting

It’s what we do: meet girlfriends for brunch or drinks, meet colleagues for working lunches or happy hours, and meet boyfriends, girlfriends, mom-friends, work-friends for dinner.  We celebrate, we laugh, we drink, we eat, we indulge… and sometimes we over-indulge both in calories and dollars.

But connecting is important.  You don’t want to lose that time to connect with old friends, the chance to make new or deeper connections, and you certainly don’t want to be left out of office activities.  These situations can’t be avoided, and they should be a source of pleasure.  On the other hand, if you find you are over-indulging too often in any (or every) way, and it’s affecting your overall financial or wellness goals, you have other options.

Multitasking Mastery:  Connecting + Walking, Jogging, Meal-Prepping or Even Doing Laundry

There are plenty of ways to spend time with people other than eating or drinking.  One of the simplest is walking.  You can do it anywhere, whether it’s around the office block on a walking meeting (something that is gaining popularity along with sit/stand desks and wellness at work initiatives), or with your neighbor around your block to catch up, or even with your family for some outdoor time where conversations may be more spontaneous than indoors.

All the while, you are burning a few calories and breathing fresh air.  You can take it up a notch with a friend (or even your partner) with a tougher hike or jog, but keep it at a pace where conversation can still take place, or you miss the multitasking part. (Or maybe you are so talented you could do higher level activities with friends like surf or kayak – it’s something to work up to.)

However, if getting on the move isn’t your thing, or you have smaller children or weather that complicate the process, there are other options.  Maybe you start a meal-prep day where you and a friend grocery shop together for one of the following; dinners, lunches or snacks for the week or month, then you use one of your kitchens for prep.  It can start out as simple as buying some bulk carrots, celery, hummus and peanut butter that you can cut and pre-package into Ziploc’s so each of you will have no-excuse snacks to grab on the go.

Later, you might get more sophisticated and put together a bunch of prepped meals that can go in the freezer now and in the slow-cooker later.  That dreaded folding laundry task?  It goes a lot faster if you use the time to connect via voice or Facetime. The key is to choose a mindless task that allows you to concentrate on the conversation — rather than something that will distract you from connecting and communicating.  So next time a friend suggests drinks after work, don’t be afraid to say, “That sounds great, maybe we can take a walk down to the pier and then we can have a drink –or I wouldn’t even object to just watching the sun set!”

Multitasking Maybe (Connecting + Creative)

Depending on your level of proficiency or type of creativity, you may be able to take time to sit with a friend, sister, partner, mother, daughter, etc. and still be creative.  Or you might have someone you can connect with, by sharing the activity, while sewing, knitting, painting, or making music even.  Even if you two are at different levels, you may be able to work out time to be creative and connect, so take advantage!

If you can add another multi-element of taking the relaxation/imagination time to a further purpose (like making gifts for upcoming holidays or even designing/developing a business that will profit), then you will be taking it to “multitasking mastery” level.  On the other hand, If your chosen creative outlet is something you feel is better done, more relaxing, or less frustrating by yourself, then embrace that alone time! 

Not Ideal to Multitask

Lastly, as much as we get a thrill out of getting more than one thing done at once, there are things that just aren’t made to be multitasked, as follows:

• Bill-paying: It doesn’t take long, but your finances are not to be done idly.  Gather your paper and online accounts and get them taken care of — with no interruptions, so you are sure not to miss anything.
• Shopping online: The more distractions from your selections, the more likely you are to buy thoughtlessly. Whether it’s the wrong size, the wrong style, or something you didn’t truly need or want altogether, you are wasting time and/or money when you shop carelessly.
• Partner time: Sure, there are times that you and your partner can spend multi-tasking, but there should definitely be time (even outside of official date-nights) that you and your partner quit multitasking to talk, connect and be intimate in any sense of the word.  Your partner and you deserve each other’s undivided attention at some point every day to feel cherished, and to keep that connection.

No matter where you are on the sliding scale, from Multitasking Mess to Multitasking Master, as long as you are multitasking mindfully instead of mindlessly, your success rate, your completion rate, and your overall efficiency and self-satisfaction will soar!