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Popular belief suggests that women are better at multitasking than men. But is it just a myth, or is it the truth?

When it comes to focusing on more than one thing at a time, men do seem to become overwhelmed rather quickly.

Just ask a man to look for the car keys, answer a phone call and watch his youngest kid crawling through the living room at the same time. Most likely, he will glance at his wife for help and let her handle the baby (and probably the phone call, too), while the man himself will turn the house upside down looking for the bloody keys.

Once I was sitting at a bar with one of my best friends. We were having what I thought was an engaging conversation until suddenly his phone rang, the bartender brought over the bill and a beautiful woman passed by, all in the same moment. I still chuckle when I remember the expression on his face: Simply unable to cope and not knowing what to do first.

I snapped my fingers in front of his face because, in my opinion, he should have made our conversation his top priority. But of course, he’d rather stare at the pretty lady than talk about my problems at work (I don’t hold it against him, even though I did end up paying the bill).

Women, on the other hand, seem to be much more capable when it comes to multitasking. We can easily have a chat with our girlfriends about relationship troubles or discuss a cooking question while sending messages on our BlackBerrys and scanning the timeline on Twitter.

A housewife can iron the laundry while watching TV and keeping an eye on what’s cooking on the stove. Yes, we can do all that without a wildly confused look on our faces.

This ability is not only helpful at home, but often comes in very handy at our place of work. Men who say otherwise — and there are quite a few of them — are either the exception to the rule, or maybe they don’t want to admit a simple truth because of pride. It’s OK, you know. We don’t like you less just because we outshine you in this regard.

Oh, and by the way, while I was typing this column, I managed to have a discussion via BBM, signed off several documents and rearranged the schedule for our desk.

Katrin Figge is deputy features editor at the Jakarta Globe.

Women believe that they’re the best when it comes to multitasking.

Moreover, they aren’t shy to brag about it in front of men, probably to make us look bad.

A female friend of mine once told me: “Women can do so many things at one time, like taking care of their babies while cooking.”

And sadly for years, if not centuries, we men have been buying this claim. As a result, men are losing their jobs, many of which are positions that were always filled by men in the past. Companies think their money will be more wisely spent on female workers, because they can do many things simultaneously without complaining about it even once.

Men have to face a much more challenging world nowadays because they have been too ignorant on this matter, agreeing that women are better than they are at multitasking.

Today we see more female bosses and CEOs than ever. If men are not careful, their position as head of the household might be in jeopardy too. We’d better watch out.

Because actually, the question is still up for debate: Is it really true that women are so much better at multitasking?

If you ask me this question, I’ll definitely say no. To me it’s just an overrated claim, and I think it’s time for us men to stand up and tell women that we can be as good as they are when it comes to multitasking.

And before women start protesting, saying that’s not the case, please be wise and look at all the men around you. Haven’t you ever seen a man fix the car, water the lawn and listen to the news on the radio all at the same time? And it’s men who can talk on the phone or send a text while driving a car in heavy traffic.

Yes, women might be able to do it too (and some are experts at this stunt) but we know that if we let an ordinary woman do this, chances are, a tragic accident is bound to happen.

There are many other examples I could cite to easily show how men are also good at multitasking. But instead of giving countless examples, the most important thing is to ensure that women aren’t too arrogant about this skill.

Yes, it’s true that there are many women out there who can do multiple things at once, but they should be aware that we men can do it too, sometimes even better.

Tasa Nugraza Barley is a features reporter at the Jakarta Globe.