Multitasking

I read an interesting article over at Lifehacker called Debunking the Myth of Multi-tasking. The idea is that when we multitask, we are not really doing two things at one time but rapidly switching between several tasks. The time to switch tasks add up and you become less productive.

I'm not so sure that I accept that multitasking is a bad thing. I think it has its time and place. I work in an office, and when I am running a large copy job, I could just sit there and twiddle my thumbs or watch the copy machine work, but I choose to do something else instead. As I boot my computer, I read the notes on my desk. But is what I describe really multitasking or technological delegation that frees me up to do something else? At home I multitask too. For instance, I empty the dishwasher while I wait for water to boil. Productivity is about making the small moments count.

I believe that if you can effectively manage your time, switchtasking can be a part of your routine too. I am an office clerk, so if somebody comes in with a question, there I am. If the phone rings, I need to answer it. Throughout the day, I rapidly switch between tasks. However, I think you can manage constant interruptions and still get things done by the use of detailed checklists. This falls more in line with David Allen's Getting Things Done theory, and it works for me. I have a daily checklist of things I need to do each day, and I have a list of tasks as well. I have also found a tickler file quite handy, but I took it a step further and indexed it. I have a spreadsheet printed out of the year and what each month's tickler file folder contains and upcoming events.

By the way, I wrote a book review of Getting Things Done over at my other site, UniversalBookReviews.

Tape and Paperclips

Don't you just hate it when you lose the end to your packing tape? You've got to spin it around and search for the end and waste a bunch of tape because when you finally find the end, the tape tears as you are unwinding it. Grr, right?!

Here's a simple solution, place a large paperclip under the tape end when you are finished using it. That way, it keeps your end, and you are set to start taping right away.

Baby pumpkins

We visited the pumpkin patch this morning to find baby pumpkins! This wasn't the only one but it was the easiest to get a photo of because it's right on the edge of the patch. It's a little hard to tell scale here, but it's about the size of half a football. It looks more like a watermelon than a pumpkin!

The vines all have flowers on them too, and we saw bees flitting about pollinating the flowers, which was really cool. Yay bees! I was a little concerned that they wouldn't find the pumpkin patch, but they seem to have found it just fine.

We couldn't stay out there too long though, not even long enough to get a count of pumpkins because there was a swarm of mosquitoes determined to exsanguinate us. I'll have to get some Deep Woods Off before I go back to count pumpkins and pull some weeds.

Mailing your luggage

Wired had an article called Save a Buck (and Stick it to the airlines) by Shipping Your Luggage. I think that's pretty cool because it's something I've been doing for a while. I hate checking luggage, absolutely hate it, and so I try to avoid doing so whenever possible and just do carry-on. I am usually able to manage with either a small carry on rolling suitcase or a backpack. Rolling up my clothes works great on saving space, and I just bring stuff that doesn't wrinkle. And since I cannot heft a 50 lb bag over my head into an overhead compartment (I'm just not that strong), I limit my packing to what I can carry.

That said, some items like my wetsuit are just too bulky to pack. The last time I visited my parents in Florida, I stuffed my wetsuit into a large Priority Mail Flat Rate box and mailed it ahead of me to my mom and dad. And on my way home, whatever didn't fit into my suitcase, I stuck it in a box and mailed it to myself. The highest Flat Rate box is $12.95, so shipping a package there and back costs a little less than $25, a bargain compared to what the airlines are now charging. You also save yourself the hassle of standing in line at the baggage claim trying to be ever-vigilant that somebody doesn't walk off with your suitcase.

Although if I do check a bag, I have a special suitcase for that. I painted that suitcase so garishly that nobody would ever mistake it for their own. I painted a large green dragon on the front, and I painted my first name in block letters on all the other sides of it.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user ToastyKen.

Laundry or the Most Boring Post Ever

I've been washing my clothes at the laundromat since my basement flooded. It didn't seem too prudent to operate electrical machines that were underwater. Going to the laundromat isn't the worst thing as there is a nice one near my work. It's a bit of a time sink though as it's not the greatest place for concentrating, so I can't get much done.

I do love the large capacity washing machines. I can wash an entire week's worth of clothing for two people in one of these machines. Just stuff, add soap and go. I use a smaller machine for my whites. My laundry sorting follows a precise scientific formula: can you bleach it? If yes, it goes in the whites load. If no, I consider it dark and toss it in the big machine. I love the smell of bleach by the way. It smells so fresh and clean, and nothing beats the smell of a bleached white towel fresh from the dryer.

Back when I was in college and the laundromat was the only place I could wash clothes, I owned no light-colored towels or pieces of clothing. Everything was dark. That way, I did not have to sort anything. Pretty clever, eh? Well, it's not entirely true though. I did own a white tee shirt from the Engineering Expo. I handwashed it to continue avoiding sorting.

So, yeah my laundry room was destroyed by the flooding this summer. It used to have nice walls, built-in cabinets, a built-in ironing board, two closets, and a counter for folding. When it flooded we had to gut the room. After gutting we realized that apparently previous owners had finished the laundry room, and no other part of the basement, to cover up flood damage. I'm guessing it was from the major floods we had back in 1997 because the ceiling tiles were stamped with a date that year. They didn't, however, do any real waterproofing, regrading of landscaping, and they did not install a sump pump. I guess that's all up to me now!

There was mold growing five feet up the concrete block wall underneath the wallboard we pulled out, and there were mushrooms growing along the base of the walls where they meet the floor. It was fungus heaven! I joked with Craig that if we didn't get the water problem solved, I was going to start a mushroom farm in the basement!

Now we've got the problem mostly solved. There's still one troublespot, so I called the waterproofing company to come back out and fix it. I have to figure out how I'm going to set up my "new" laundry room. I'd like it to be my well-organized laundry paradise, and it sure will be nice not to have to visit the laundromat anymore.

Knitting: First pair of socks!

This is my very first pair of socks. I started them this winter when I took a sock-making class, but I missed a couple of classes. So, they remained unfinished in my knitting closet. I resolved to finish them this summer, and I did today. Yay!

One of the scary things about knitting socks is the kitchener stitch. However with good instructions, it's not so bad at all. First I visited, Knitty.com where I found a great tutorial. Then I found a great video tutorial on YouTube.

The way I did it was that I read and printed the tutorial. Then I watched the video to see it in action. I took it out to my couch, laid the directions next to me and went for it. Not so bad. I kind of got into chanting knit drop, perl stay, perl drop, knit stay. I'm glad nobody but the cats witnessed that silliness!

I knit these socks from tofutsies yarn. The finished product is really soft, but the yarn was a challenge to knit with as it was way too easy to split it. But that could also be my inexperience with knitting on small needles... Before this foray into sock knitting, the smallest needle I'd ever knit on was an 8! Now, I've used 5's a couple of times.

Are we really so rushed?

Last weekend, a friend of mine called me as she attempted to navigate the detour between Milwaukee and Madison. Getting here took several hours longer than it normally does. It gave her time to chat with me though.

Along the way, she had to stop for gas. Apparently, she took too much time at the gas pump after fueling her car. There were plenty of other gas pumps available, and since she drives a Toyota Camry, I'm guessing it was Regular Unleaded, not diesel.

A man was waiting for the pump she was using and got impatient with her. She turned to him and said, "If you didn't have such a stick up your a$$, you'd smile more often."

Want to know what he did next? He smiled. She's right afterall. What's the big hurry?

First of all, I love that she had the guts to say that. I just don't have the ability to say exactly what's on my mind in the moment like that. I would have probably only been able to muster a dirty look. It makes me wonder why are we in such a hurry? A few extra minutes at the pump just gives you a little bit longer to listen to the song on the radio/ipod/cd-player before having to turn off the car. If we slowed down, we could take a couple of minutes to use the restroom, get a soda, buy a candy bar or lottery tickets. Look at the other cars at the gas station. You just might see something really cool. One day, I saw a car in the grocery store parking lot that had crocheted seat covers. How awesome is that!

Photo courtesy of futureatlas.com Thank you!