I Need Multiple Timers

I am a multi-tasker from way back. Seems like I get more done if I am doing more than one thing at a time, but maybe it is not always good. Sometimes when I am cooking something that takes a long time, like caramelizing 20 pounds of onions, I certainly have to do another job at the same time. I can’t stand over the pot and watch it for four hours. So then I start answering e-mail. A job that never ends and can be stopped at a moments notice so I can go stir the onions. Suddenly the phone rings, I stop writing, stop stirring, start talking and my mind forgets that I still need to go check the pot every ten minutes.
I have a watch that has a timer on it. It is probably my favorite feature, after the fact that I also get my text messages on it. If I am smart, and remember, I set the timer on my watch to remind me, “go stir the pot” every ten minutes. It is amazing to me how fast ten minutes goes by if I am doing something like writing or playing a game on my iPad. Yet if I am walking on the treadmill ten minutes takes an eternity. Regardless of what I am doing in those ten minutes, be it something engulfing or something annoying I will have totally forgotten about stirring the pot. If I did not set a reminder I am sure to burn the onions.
I don’t think, actually I know, I did not used to be that way when I was younger. I could keep many balls in the air, in my head, and not forget which one needed my attention at the precise moment. The loss of this skill is the one I think I miss the most, and perhaps it is tied with the loss of my perfect eye sight.
Today I had multiple jobs going at once. I was baking tomato pies and not all of them went in the oven at the same time. I was also roasting Brussels sprouts and cooking carrots. It turned out I needed multiple timers to keep me going. I have multiple timers, on my watch, on my oven and a stand alone old fashioned one, but every time one went off I was not sure which job it was for. I also could not leave the kitchen because I can’t hear the oven timer anyplace except right next to the oven. So maybe I miss my good hearing also. Needless to say I could not multi-task liked I would have in my youth and add one more job to the three I was working on.
Maybe I don’t need multiple timers, but fewer jobs at the same time. I do not like the idea of being less productive, but I don’t want to burn any onions.