Who Says Men Can't Multitask

This afternoon I am currently working on 5 different projects all at the same time. This got me thinking about how men are not known for being able to multitask, yet I seem to be doing it quite well. I don't think I am that special either. It just takes a bit of technology and anyone can do multiple things all at the same time.

The way that computers multitask is by working on a project for a bit, saving the state of the work, moving to the next project, and so on until tasks are completed. Newer computers have multiple central processing units (CPU's) that work independently from each other. However the process is relatively similar. One CPU will start a task, then the next CPU, and so on until they are all busy. If there are more tasks to do, one CPU will save the state of the work, and start the new task. The reason computers do this well is that they are built to save the state of the current process very efficiently and then start the next one. Humans are a bit less efficient when it comes to switching tasks. I find it very difficult to put one project down and start another when the first one is not yet completed.

Fortunately this afternoon, I am using modern technology to do some of my work for me. The first thing I started is laundry. I don't have to sit and watch the washing machine do its thing and so I moved onto my next task. Last weekend I started printing something on my 3D printer only to have it stop because of a jammed nozzle. After starting laundry, I spent 5 minutes, cleaned the nozzle and restarted the print. So now I have 2 things going at the same time.

Thursday evening I picked up my copy of Red Dead Redemption 2 and loaded it up on my PS4 on the boat. That took about 2 hours before I could start playing. I will be home for the Thanksgiving week and want to play the game as well. After getting the 3D printer started, I started loading the game on my PS4 at home. So now I have 3 things going: laundry, 3D printing, and video game loading.

Next I noticed that the dishwasher had a bunch of dirty dishes and so I finished loading all of the dirty dishes out of the sink. Then I started the dishwasher. That brings me up to 4 things going simultaneously: laundry, 3D printing, video game loading, and washing dishes.

Recognizing that I am doing so much all at the same time, I had to write about it and so that is the 5th thing. I'm feeling pretty productive. The only downside is when everything is finished. Then I will have to fold the laundry, put away the dishes, and clean my 3D print. On the plus side, I can forget all of that and just go play my game.  With my blog entry done, I am now down to 4 tasks.