I think I am "relatively" good at multi-tasking. Studying history and Anglistics along with some different fields from the so called "optional fields" (which are absolutely obligatory to take) I often had to balance a number of tasks at the same time.
If we are talking literally about doing two things at the exact same moment this depends very much on the nature of things. When I work on the computer I almost always listen to audio plays, audio books, audio documentaries etc. and I often do this also while I'm doing other stuff than computer work. While I chat I often listen or even watch documentaries too at the same time (my laptop being my TV is tempting in that respect). However, the quality of the multitasking with regard to hearing something while I work on something else is somewhat variable. The quality of or my interest in the stuff I hear while doing something else certainly influences how much I maintain from it. Sometimes I really note almost everything that is said, sometimes I get the basic ideas but might be hard pressed if I was later questioned about details or characters names, and sometimes I just turn it of after all when I notice that I really can't concentrate on it at all.
The last is most likely to happen when I am writing or reading stuff. This is the most attention demanding task and while I read an article or write something I am usually no good paying attention to spoken words over different matters entirely (that's where music may come in that is not as demanding on ones deliberate attention). When I draw, paint, embroider or do any such creative rather than intellectual work my mind is totally free and I have absolutely no difficulty listening to an audio play while doing some creative stuff. It may change again when I am listening for example to how a computer program works. While trying to figure out some hitherto unknown functions of photoshop or the like my attention for whatever I am listening to will drop.
One tricky thing is listening to audio books while playing computer games. The results there can very quite a bit. Of course games demand some attention but nevertheless I sometimes still take up most of the content of what I am listening too while at other times the game would get the better of the attention. I suppose here much depends in the interest of the one or the other.
The last two things I heard while doing totally other stuff at the same time where Friedrich Schiller's plays "Wallenstein" and "Maria Stuart" I understood the basic framework, context and conflicts of the plays but would be hard pressed if someone wanted me to go into details about them.
