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April 16, 2007
Spazzing out.
The multi-tasker's curse
So. I've discovered the downside to working at home while your husband works a get-in-the-car-and-head-out job. Want to hear the details of my discovery? (That was rhetorical, by the way.)
I lose all track of time when anything goes off the rails schedule-wise. ALL track of time.
Here I was, sitting in the recliner, catching up on MySpace messages and emails, when I noticed the email to myself reminding me to post a blog here on Sunday. I smile. I sip my coffee. I am not in a hurry because, hey, it's Saturday.
Only problem – it's not Saturday. It's Sunday. More, it's Sunday night. Oops.
So for my next trick, I'm blogging about my spazziness.
The thing is, I've been spazzing about other things, too. What kind of spazzes? Well, for one thing, I find myself saying things that aren't in my head. To my daughter: "Can you hand me the thermometer, please?" A normal enough request, except that I put the thermometer back in the bathroom a good fifteen minutes before, and what I want her to hand me is the remote. Or, "Give you sister the brush, she wants to brush her ... {{insert circular hand motions here}}}" Her hair, Mommy. Sigh.
So here I am, saying nonsense and thinking it's the wrong day. Naturally, I share with my friends, who immediately inform me that it's not the fact that I'm a few months past 21. It's not even my busy writing schedule. Nor is it my kids. It's mommydom coupled with book-birthing. A whole plethora of hormones and stressors working in unison together to make sure that I fit the profile of an absent-minded writer.
Now, that's actually not that bad a profile when you get right down to it. The absent-minded writer archtype usually suggests something cool. Like a huge library in a turret, and a spooky old mansion. (I live in a ranch style house built in the 80s. No turret for miles.)
Even without the turret, though, I think there's something to the theory. Not because of any particular hormones, but because my mind is off doing writing things. Or running the house things. Women are naturally multi-taskers, right? But even my lovely little laptop starts to freak out if I have too many programs going at once. And since there is ALWAYS the Current Book program running in my head, and often the Next Project Research running in the background, then clearly I'm running a bit show on cerebral RAM. A theory proved in part by the fact that I spazz more when I'm under a killer deadline or trying to do copyedits and write and clean the house for the social worker who's coming for the 6 month post placement report to send back to our adoption agency. You know. Multi-tasking.
So I'm wondering about the rest of you? Am I the only spazz out there? Other writers find themselves answering their kids in nonsensical ways when their mind is mostly on the book? Readers, do you do the same when you're deep into reading a story?
Come on, folks. Share! At the very least, lie and tell me I'm not the only one....
Posted by Julie Kenner at 11:23 AM | Comments (8)
Comments
You are not alone. One of my friends has stopped even trying to come up with the right words for things. She uses "item" for any object. Then she uses "situation" or "scene" for places we're supposed to be going or things we're going to be doing. So, when her family is walking out the door, she tells her kids to make sure they have all their items so they're prepared for their situations so they don't mess up anyone's scene. Amazingly, her family is the most prepared and together of almost any family I know.
Posted by: The LC Eileen ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.literarychicks.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 16, 2007 12:11 PM
I LOVE that! I shall adopt it as my own!
Posted by: Julie at April 16, 2007 12:40 PM
Yup. I get like that towards the end of a semester. I once asked my Lit. professor during a final, "Are we supposed to write this out like a written out thing or can we just place words on the paper?" Yes. That was said out loud. Yes. I'm an English major. And amazingly enough, yes. I passed.
Posted by: Janina at April 16, 2007 1:20 PM
Janina! I can so relate to what you are saying. It is crunch time for me as both a grad student and as a part-time college teacher. I am trying to balance doing my own homework with grading my students' homework, and my brain is fried. ;-)
Posted by: Linda Sherwood at April 17, 2007 8:10 AM
Janina! Too funny.
Posted by: Laura Fitzgerald at April 17, 2007 1:18 PM
You are not alone. So, NOT ALONE! When I'm in the final days of finishing a book, I can't talk right at all. I'll try to say something, like "Honey, will you hand me the knife so I can cut this onion?" But I wind up just standing in the kitchen saying "Hand me...." while pointing repeatedly, and growing more frustrated. The first few times I did it, my husband asked if I needed to go to the doctor and get my brain checked.
Now we just call it "Writer Brain," and he's learned to figure out my hand signals.
Posted by: Julie Ortolon at April 17, 2007 1:24 PM
Julie, I am laughing my head off! Around here all of us do it all of the time. Common phrase, "So, that thing we were talking about the other night. You know that THING thing." I swear we take it in turns to be totally uncomprehensible. But we kind of know (generally) what we're talking about...at least some of us THINK we do :-)
Posted by: Michelle C at April 17, 2007 3:03 PM
Ohhhhhhhhh that is so me. Without the words "things" and "stuff", I'd be reduced to babbling incoherently. Which I do sometimes anyway.
My name is Lauren, and I'm a spaz. My brain also multitasks, and yes, it's to the point where the system crashes. Which usually forces me to reboot at the mall, spending money I shouldn't. But hey, it's what I DO.
Hm. Maybe I should stop wondering why I am single.
Posted by: laurenjharwood at April 18, 2007 7:58 AM
