Can men multi-task?

“Fucking two things up at the same time isn`t multitasking” 
― Dick Masterson, Men Are Better Than Women

The simple answer to the title of this blog is NO.  Recently as The American was washing dishes I asked him to do a small house chore, to which he gave me a little attitude.  Which of course led to a conversation about how he did not want to be doing more than one task at once.  It hit me.  I heard him loud and clear, he does not like multitasking.   Later I breached the topic of men and multitasking to several women and there was a unanimous vote, men don't enjoy multitasking. The following are three points on this topic.

“Juggling is an illusion. ... In reality, the balls are being independently caught and thrown in rapid succession. ... It is actually task switching.” 
― Gary Keller, The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

1.  The box theory.  I recently read an article on how the man's brain is a compilation of small boxes.  Each box contains one action.  I mentioned multitasking later to The American and he went on to explain that men do multitask by doing one task and accomplishing it and then starting a new task....ummm....this explanation sort of sounds like the opposite of multitasking....BUT! Regardless of the path of this week's topic the box theory is interesting and does make sense.  There seemed to be a general observation of all women I spoke to that all men had the same frustrated reaction when posed with a the stress of multitasking.

“A man's face is his autobiography. A woman's face is her work of fiction.” 
― Oscar Wilde

2.  The compartmentalization theory led me to believe that men thrive on accomplishing tasks.  While I myself flourish with a multitude of semi finished tasks to keep me busy, men appear to enjoy successfully finishing one task and taking a break.  This use to drive me crazy.  Why only do one task??? AND take a break??? To me this comes across as such a slow way to finish multiple tasks.  But, then it hit me again, MEN ARE SINGLE TASKING, one cannot evaluate the success of single tasking on the merits of multitasking.  Men merit themselves on the singular success of each task.  Every finished task is an accomplishment.

“Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are both disappointed.” 
― Albert Einstein

3. Men don't like to multitask.  This point also came from The American.  His view and the articles I read view women's multitasking as complete sh#t storm chaos.  They view our skewed multitasking brains as pure, bouncing, misdirected, confused poppycock.  Thus while us multitaskers view single taskers as painfully slow, single taskers view us multitaskers as an enigma.  Men do not enjoy multitasking and they therefore should enjoy the path in life that each single task takes them on.

Men and women are so different aren't they??? I know! And, for the first time in a long time I respect our differences.  Instead of thinking I am always right and wanting to change someone, I have found learning about what makes a man tick is far more interesting than changing him.  Thanks for reading!!

Please read these interesting short articles on the multitasking differences of the sexes:
1) http://www.tickld.com/x/why-men-and-women-think-differently
2) http://jane-frankland.com/the-real-truth-about-women-and-multi-tasking/
3) http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/men-and-women-really-do-think-differently/1913014.html
4) http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-mens-brains-are-wired-differently-than-women/