Going for the Juggler: The Art of Multitasking

Recently, I had to face a hard, highly inconvenient truth: I am not a multitasker. In fact, I'm not the best single-tasker, either. Believe me, I try. But the time has come to admit that I may never be like those perfect people out there who color-code their zillions of to-do lists and zip through them while I'm stuck in the drive-thru lane at Dunkin Donuts. Do I really, really hate these overachievers? Of course I do.

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Okay, I lied. I don't hate them, because many are good friends of mine. They're always sympathetic and do a really good job of hiding their pity.  Whenever I whine or beg them for advice--usually when I'm under some desperate deadline--they try their best to help me mend my scattered ways. "You just need to focus," they tell me. "You can do it. Block everything else out. It's not that hard. Really."

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I'm always psyched up after these cheerleading sessions. I have the best of intentions. But usually, I'm back to ground zero before it's time for that second iced tea. That's why, after my last self-imposed-deadline debacle, I vowed I'd become a champion multitasker. After all, everyone is busy these days, right? People have jobs and kids and parents and pets to take care of. They cook and clean their houses and volunteer and hit the gym. And somehow, they manage to get those fingers flying on the keyboard and get their manuscripts in on time. Do I qualify for special dispensation? Sadly, I think not.

I decided to waste/spend a bit of time researching how exactly I might become a model of efficiency. I was delighted to find there were plenty of helpful articles out there. But guess what? Technically, there is no such thing as true multitasking. The brain can only handle one task at a time.  Some people even claim that our minds can actually explode (okay, deteriorate) over time from cognitive fragmentation overload.

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Of course, that's not the full story. There are ways to work around that single-task thing. You can work on making your brain work faster in switching between tasks. And if you pair a challenging task (say, writing a book) with a less-difficult one (listening to music), it can work out okay for some people. (Side note: Agatha Christie famously claimed she did her best book plotting while doing the dishes.) Oh, and shocker: creating to-do lists, color-coded or otherwise, is extremely useful.

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The most important thing I took away from my "research"--not to mention real-life experience--is that Stress is Bad. If you're frozen and frazzled with worry about getting everything done at once, your productivity decreases. Breaks are necessary, and so is pausing briefly to set your intention for each new task. It's good to get up and move around, and chances are excellent you may have a solution for a problem (say, a pesky plot point) when you return, because you'll probably be approaching it from a different angle. Even nutrition and hydration are important (I'm including snacks and additional iced teas in here).

So I may never be a multitasking queen, but I guess I'll keep trying.  Maybe I've just been a little too hard on myself all this time. Baby steps, right?

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LISA Q. MATHEWS lives in New England but sets her series The Ladies Smythe & Westin in sunny Florida. She is currently polishing her multitasking skills by writing several new mysteries at once. Her titles include CARDIAC ARREST, PERMANENTLY BOOKED, and the very latest, FASHIONABLY LATE.

So who has helpful multitasking pointers or--even better--crushing tales of defeat to share in the comments?

Five Characters You Meet at Book Club

Today the Ladies Smythe & Westin are back in Permanently Booked, a book club-themed mystery. To celebrate—and perhaps as a gentle caution—here are the profiles of a few interesting members you may encounter at your next literary gathering:

Hermione 10.0

I know, we all adore Hermione Granger. This is Hermione on steroids. Uber-dedicated but a bit of a bossypants, she’s already finished every book on the selection list—and she’ll lap you on the re-reads. She prefers to draft her own reader’s guides and the questions are a lot tougher than the ones you prepped for on the Internet.

Sidebar Cindy and Cell Phone Sue

I’m counting these two as one here, since it’s sometimes hard to tell them apart. Sidebar Cindy talks nonstop about everything other than books: her love life, her workout routine, her kids’ soccer games, the last amazing party you weren’t invited to—you name it. Cell Phone Sue texts constantly, with alert pings that drive your dog through the glass coffeetable. She also loves to share photos and takes selfies with the refreshments. This duo usually arrives late, and neither has read the book up for discussion. Closest book club BFFs: Wine-Hog Wanda and Resked-Request Rita.

Fandango Fran

She’s rarely read the book, but you can bet she’s seen the movie or TV show, and blithely tries to fake it. No one except Hermione 10.0 wants to clue her in that the movie had a different ending, because that would be rude and embarrassing. She’s not going to read the book, anyway.

Malachi the Writer Guy

This member never misses a meeting. He’s in your writer’s group, too, but they’re the same thing, right? Malachi the Writer Guy is dying to share his (own) two-thousand-page novel. Usually military fiction with extremely, er, vivid romantic interludes you’ll never scrub from your mind.  Don’t bother trying to figure out a way to get rid of him. It’s futile.

Doodlebug Debbie

No one really knows about Debbie. She never says a word at meetings, but creates endless, highly-detailed illustrations on the back of the reader’s guide handout in shaded pencil. Mutilated unicorns, elaborate skulls, bloody, medieval-looking hatchets, that kind of thing. Probably best not to ask.

I admit, I may have exaggerated a teensy bit here—and if you share any qualities with these characters, I sincerely apologize. See you next month—Hermione 10.0 is already halfway through Permanently Booked!

Please join Lisa Q. Mathews at her website, on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads. 

Readers, do you have a character to add to this list? Discuss below in the comments!