There are some things that women are simply expected to be good at. Caring for children, for example. Keeping a house reasonably tidy. Being empathetic and collaborative. These are all positive skills, and they’re not inherently feminine. Yet women often face more judgement for not displaying them than men.

One of the most pervasive positive stereotypes about women is that we’re all naturally brilliant multitaskers. We’ve spoken before about the myth of the modern superwoman, the make-believe high-flying professional who’s able to juggle motherhood, work, friends and romance without so much as breaking a sweat. Even if you don’t personally aspire to spinning a million different plates in the air, there’s a generic assumption that women are better than men at doing several things at once.

Here’s the thing, though: I’m a woman, and I’m s**t at multi-tasking. I can’t hop nimbly between tasks; I have to work through my to-do lists methodically instead. If I’m writing or editing an article, nothing throws me off balance like suddenly having to answer an email or speak to a colleague – and outside of the office, I can barely even text and talk at the same time. I can just about cook dinner while holding a conversation, but that’s about it.

But over the years, the stereotype that women are better than men at multitasking has seemingly been backed up by science. One study from 2013 found that men were slower and less organised than women when switching between tasks on a computer, while research published last year showed that men’s walking patterns changed when they were required to complete a cognitive test at the same time.

Science says women aren’t actually better than men at multitasking. What a relief