Women are known to excel at multi-taking, while men are thought to struggle to do more than one task at a time.

But such notions could be a thing of the past, according to a new UK-based poll that’s revealed how over half of males now believe they are just as good at juggling activities as their female counterparts. 

The new study, which surveyed 2,000 Britons in November 2024, found that 60 per cent of men described themselves as a ‘decent multi-tasker’ – the same percentage as women.

In fact, 46 per cent of the men polled insisted that being able to juggle many tasks is essential to modern life, with being able to help with homework, while cooking a meal emerging as the top male multi-tasking skill.

This was followed by working or sending emails while in the bathroom and brushing their teeth in the shower to save time.

Men also insisted modern life means they have to send emails from the supermarket, pay bills and do ‘life admin’ on public transport and take work calls while looking after their children.

Another example of multi-tasking mentioned by the ‘modern man’ was completing the online shop while in a work meeting, according to the poll by charging specialists, Roam.

Meanwhile, out of the ten top ways that modern British men are multi-taking in daily life, dialling into a work meeting while walking the dog was also mentioned by those polled. 

Women are known to excel at multi-taking, while men are thought to struggle to do more than one task at a time. But such notions could be a thing of the past, according to a new UK-based poll (stock photo)

Women are known to excel at multi-taking, while men are thought to struggle to do more than one task at a time. But such notions could be a thing of the past, according to a new UK-based poll (stock photo)

Nine per cent of surveyed men also boasted about taking in a food order while on a work call, while eight per cent detailed shopping while charging or refuelling the car.

Overall, the research showed that one in three (30 per cent) of Britons are confident they have mastered the art of multi-tasking.

Over half (51 per cent) believe that being able to multitask is essential to modern life, with 42 per cent going a step further and saying that modern life is so busy that you have to do two tasks at the same time.

EV drivers, for example, have completed a workout, gone out for a meal, been to the cinema and enjoyed clothes shopping while their car has been charging.

James Randall, EV charging specialists, Roam’s CEO, said: ‘This research highlights that our lives are now busier than ever, so it’s understandable that so many of us are looking for convenient and efficient ways to get all of life’s jobs done.

‘Going shopping or hitting the gym while you’re charging your car is now a realistic part of modern life, giving time-poor Brits the freedom to go wherever life takes them.’

In 2019, a study examining the long-asserted myth that women are better at multi-tasking proved that men are just as capable of juggling numerous jobs simultaneously.

In fact, despite years of claims to the contrary, it transpired that both genders are equally able, or unable, to do more than one task concurrently.  

The new study, which surveyed 2,000 Britons in November 2024, found that 60 per cent of men described themselves as a 'decent multi-tasker' - the same percentage as women (stock photo)

The new study, which surveyed 2,000 Britons in November 2024, found that 60 per cent of men described themselves as a ‘decent multi-tasker’ – the same percentage as women (stock photo)

A team of researchers led by Dr Patricia Hirsch of Germany’s Aachen University reached the conclusion after analysing 48 men and 48 women, with an average age of 24, in letter or number identification tasks.

Some participants were asked to pay attention to two tasks at once, known as concurrent multitasking.

Other tasks required them to switch attention between tasks, called sequential multitasking.

The researchers measured reaction time and accuracy and found that while multitasking was a struggle for both men and women, there was no difference between the two.   

The finding adds to a growing literature that contradicts the widely held belief that women multitask better than men.  

Dr Hirsch said: ‘Multitasking resulted in substantial performance costs across all experimental conditions without a single significant gender difference in any of these ten measures, even when controlling for gender differences in underlying cognitive abilities.

‘Thus, our results do not confirm the widespread stereotype that women are better at multitasking than men at least in the popular sequential and concurrent multitasking settings used in the present study.

‘The present findings strongly suggest that there are no substantial gender differences in multitasking performance across task-switching and dual-task paradigms, which predominantly measure cognitive control mechanisms such as working memory updating, the engagement and disengagement of task sets, and inhibition.’  

The study was published in the journal, PLOS ONE.

REVEALED: 10 WAYS MODERN BRITISH MEN ARE MULTI-TASKING IN DAILY LIFE… 

  1. Cooking dinner, while helping with homework – 47%
  2. Working / sending emails in the bathroom – 23%
  3. Brushing teeth in the shower – 20%
  4. Paying bills or doing financial life admin on the tube or bus – 18%
  5. Online shopping while in a work meeting – 13%
  6. Taking a work call while looking after the children – 9%
  7. Taking in a food order while on a work call – 9%
  8. Shopping while charging or refuelling the car – 8%
  9. Making work calls or doing emails from the supermarket – 8%
  10. Dialling into a work meeting while walking the dog – 7%

 

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