Schizophrenia or Multi-Tasking?

I've heard about quilters who begin a project and don't even purchase fabric for the next project until the project is complete. I've admired and longed for that single-minded focus. It's just not me. Not only do I have many works in progress, I seem to make the best progress by working on several projects at the same time. Case in point, this week I sewed the rows on my red, white, and blue Firecrackers top, pinned the rows to the Autumn Ridge top and pinned parts of the 16 patches on my blue and white Strawberry Pie. Sometimes, all three projects were under the sewing machine needle as I chained sewed.

I seem to buy items in multiples, too. When shopping if I find a shirt or pants that fit, I almost always buy two of the item. If I really like it, I go back and buy two more in other colors or prints.

It struck me that I have the same pattern in my reading. This week I was following three different story lines. First, there was the book that I read in the evenings before going to sleep, Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber. I started bringing a book to son's swim meets. I don't want to bring a book from the library in case it gets wet. I grabbed a paperback copy of Quentins by Maeve Binchy to read just at the swim meets. I like to listen to music, podcasts or aubio books while sewing. I like to listen to something that I've already read so I don't have to follow the plot too closely. My choice this week is At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon. The Mitford series is one of my favorite "comfort" books. About once a year, I read or listen to the entire series again.

The thing is that this ability to work on many projects at one time is a big strength in my job. We definitely multi-task.There are times when our school media center library is a real three- ring circus. I thought I had adapted for the job, but maybe I've structured the job to my personality. Strength or weakness?