Thursday, January 6, 2011

Why is that women seem to be able to multi-task so much better than men?... It must be how the brains are wired…




"Can men prepare a presentation while rocking the baby to sleep? And can they make breakfast, while ironing their shirts, even as they negotiate a major business deal on the phone? ".... Who can do” Multitasking”, Men or Women? My dear friend Sulekha Rawat put forth this question…It is not necessary that you agree with what I have to say.


It does not matter if it’s in the kitchen or the office, there appears to be a difference in the way that men and women handle multiple tasks. No offense to men… I believe that most women feel that we do it better…Don't worry all you men out there… I have good things to say about you also.
In my life as a mom with a home business and a child that I’m home schooling, I find that I am more likely to multi-task than my husband ever was. I often play with my daughter, make lunch and answer the phone all at the same time. My husband found that he had trouble focusing on even serving dinner for himself, unless someone helped him. Most moms I know can get the whole family out of the door and arrive at the destination on time with everyone’s warm clothes plus assorted snacks….and so on.

Moms tend to multi-task because they have to. Since they don’t often have the opportunity to do just one thing at a time, they have learned how to do many. The downside is that men seem to be more able to screen out other needs and distractions and truly focus on a task. As researches state, their productivity is just a good as women’s. I think in some ways men might ultimately be more efficient since their focus is more directed. Then again, women might have the capacity for the same level of efficiency (or even greater?!) when they have the opportunity to focus uninterrupted.

It is official − women are better at multitasking than men. Psychologists have proven that men really are worse at multitaskinthan women, although it does depend on the task. Professor Keith Laws, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire, who led the research, said: "We have all heard stories that either men can't multi-task or that women are exceptionally good at multi-tasking"Prof. Laws gave 50 male and 50 female students eight minutes to perform three tasks at the same time: carrying out simple Mathematical problems, finding restaurants on a map and sketching a strategy for how they would search for a lost key in an imaginary field. While women were able to perform well in all four activities at once, men performed, on average, worse when it came to planning to search for the key. Men tended to start their search in a less logical place such as the centre of the field and they would not cover the whole area when they were outlining their search. Women tended to enter in one corner and search in concentric circles or lines. The results showed, females were better able to ponder over a problem, while continuing to juggle their other activities at the same time.

It has been going on for ages — women can do more than one thing at once, while men struggle to match them. Why is it that men have problems doing something which come so easily to women? Of course, this is because of the natural differences between men and women, and does not mean that men are less competent or able than women. There are many different theories about why is it that women can multi-task. One is that women approach a problem in a different way in comparison to men. In a situation of two or more things happening at once, women are often able to judge how to handle the situation better than men. This reflects a woman’s natural ability to observe a situation as a whole and take time to plan how best to do things.

I personally have never met a man who could, that’s my down fall.... I think most women who are very independent, do not look for men who can do more than one thing at once. I also believe that if you try to push men around, they seem to go the opposite way. Some men are not used to handling many issues at once and need a multi-tasking partner. I believe that some men are multi-taskers…They seem to have the Military to thank for it.  I also think single parents have to be the highest under paid, over worked mulit-taskers… out there!

My advice is... DO NOT TRY to get men to multi-task….
If you do this…. it may be dangerous to your health!!!
Can You Visualise a man with a remote in one hand and a feeding bottle in the other?  LOL….

CopyrightMotifs@2010
Prof.Keith Laws research:
Labels: Man, woman, multi-tasking

19 comments:

  1. I agree with you whole heartedly..excellent post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great Post Alpana - Read it again here. Always a pleasure reading your thougts : )

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great..I liked it and agree that men CANNOT multi-task..its not in them..keep on writing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aggressive writing! Now, I wanna consider some more things which you din't!

    1st, the importance of the task : I believe feeding the baby in the feeding-bottle is quite easy compared to working hard for buying that bottle for your kid!

    2ndly ,yes, the society is very modern now. Still, the responsibility of the whole family is more on the shoulders of men than women. That may be traditional but that is true. Even now. And that counts.

    And there are many more things to consider. But what I wanna conclude is, women are good at some things where men aren't and even the vice-versa is true. So, men and women should complete each other not compete!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Men are well to do somethings and that things are little bit difficult to women. Vice versa also. So i think there is no need of post-mortem in it. If a men and women joined, they can do all things.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Alpu - U are an exceptionally cool writer ... blog is wonderfully penned ... it's simple yet dignified. Whatever I read so far...Touched my heart. Brilliant. :) I am looking forward to reading all of it soon !

    ReplyDelete
  7. Alpu,u are absolutely correct honey!First do justice with ur own self then think about others.Am I sounding too selfish;I dont think so!!If being practical is selfish then accept it.Luv u honey.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I agree with you Alpana, the reason for women to be better in multi tasking is because women are always more and very focused in any job, single or multi. Secondly, men have traditionally been pampered a lot and never really have a better focus since mostly there is lack of sincerity towards the tasks in general. There are always exceptions though....

    ReplyDelete
  9. Woman...The enigma created by God...a creation He in His greatness could not fathom Himself! Yes, women are anyday more multifaceted than men. Man may be the traditional bread-winner in the family, but that's it. Wome will be women...the far superior race!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I agree with you...very well written..its a pleasure reading your posts.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hmmm...nice lighthearted write up Alpana, I agree with you completely. ... women are naturally adapted to multi task...their ability to cope with infants is remarkable besides their daily chores...Women are allowed to feel one up on men in this space....

    ReplyDelete
  12. I agree with you Alpana, men can't do it..its not in us..you are getting better with every post..keep it up..and take care.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Multi tasking..who can relate to it better than a woman? You have hit the nail Alpana, good one.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Well done Alpana..as usual you have done a great write up..I actually wait for your posts.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Its wonderful,its fresh and put across well..will look forward to more.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great work!!Keep it up Alpana

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you so much for reading and commenting..each one has their own view point,so I cannot pass statements against them...Thank you,once again.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Alpana and her "punch them where it hutrs them" article. I agree with Alpana that women are better at multitasking. In matriarchy, the women do all the work. Good write.

    ReplyDelete

Design by WPThemesExpert | Blogger Template by BlogTemplate4U