Multitasking and Time Management
What’s so important about multitasking and time management anyways? Well, for starters, people do not actually multitask. There have been studies shown to prove that people do not actually multitask but rather, trying to do two things at one time which affects their performance. Instead of multitasking, we can take an easier route by prioritizing our goals. Very few people today have good time management skills and most people need help organizing tasks. Something as simple as a time management matrix, created by Stephen Covey can make all the difference. Multitasking and time management go hand in hand so instead of trying to do so many things at once use your time wisely with simple strategies to easily straighten out your priorities.
According to Sarah Sparks, a staffwriter for Education Week, she talks about multitasking and how it affects a person’s performance. On average, 13-18 year olds use about six types of media at the same time outside of school. When these students are doing homework and looking at social media, they are giving continuous partial attention, which means not being completely focused on one thing and not taking in all the information. According to other researchers found in the article, it is very hard for the brain to be in two different places at one time. It also takes up a lot more time multitasking to get a task done than doing it one after the other. Multitaskers and non-multitaskers were given memory and attention tests to see which one performed better, the multitaskers did a lot worse than the non-multitaskers. Text messages were shown to decrease scores when testers stopped to answer them. When a reader’s attention is shifted to a text message, email, or phone call, the brain is split and it is hard for the reader to focus back on the reading. A “Marshmallow Test” was given to preschoolers. The teacher gave the students a marshmallow and told them to wait 15 minutes to eat it and they would get two sweets at the end of the wait in exchange for the marshmallow. Less than one third of the class did not have self control to wait and eat the marshmallow. These results were quite similar with texting (Sparks). I do not think people are multitaskers unless their performance is the same as doing something one at a time. People should not be taught to multitask on things unless they are not important. For example, if a person tries to multitask on an important assignment, it will take longer and it might not be done to the best of their ability. Multitasking makes our brain think harder and our performance is decreased.
I experience multitasking all the time, or at least, I like to think I do. I multitask while I am studying for tests, writing essays, driving, and at work. A lot of times when I am studying and writing essays for school, I will also text my friends. Whenever I receive a text, I always stop what I am doing to answer it. Similarly, I will get hungry out of boredom while I am working on homework and get up to go get food. This causes me to pay only continuous partial attention to my homework and sometimes I will fail to get it done or it will take a lot longer than I had planned to finish my work. Since I am a waitress, I am constantly multitasking all day. Two tables may come in at one time, so I have to get their drinks while I am also focused on taking another table’s order or having to get more refills which may keep the customers waiting too long. I like to listen to music while I drive and sometimes when the station goes to a commercial, I switch channels until I find a station I like, taking my mind and eyes off the road. I used to coach gymnastics and I multitasked all the time because I would have to coach one child at a time while making sure the rest of the class was working on their own individual skills. So during coaching, my brain was constantly switching from the one student I was working with to the rest of the class. These are a few instances when I have multitasked and although I like to think I am multitasking, I am not, according to Sarah Sparks and the studies done by researchers in her article. The only way you can multitask is by doing more than one thing at a time while still having complete focus on both tasks which is simply not possible for the human brain (Sparks).
Steve Mueller, writes about in his own blog, Stephen Covey's “Time Management Matrix.” Covey is an American Keynote Speaker and author of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. He uses a matrix which is a four quadrant system used to help people prioritize important and unimportant tasks. A priority can best be defined as a task or activity that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible. It helps organize which tasks are not only important but urgent, and which ones can be taken care of at a later time. This is a great start in learning how to properly manage time and focus on getting important goals out of the way while still having free time to do other things. There are four main quadrants, the first one is characterized with the priorities that are urgent and important, the second one is not urgent but important. Quadrant three is the opposite of quadrant two, with having tasks that are urgent and not important. Lastly, the fourth quadrant deals with things that are neither important nor urgent. Covey also gives examples of priorities, such as school projects and emergencies which belong in quadrant one. Examples in quadrant two consists of tasks such as planning, preparing, and exercising. Interruptions and meetings can be found in quadrant three and anything that is considered free time such as reading, watching tv, and looking at social media would be found in the fourth quadrant. Many people today like to procrastinate and don't know how to manage their time wisely. This matrix helps to easily identify what needs to done within a certain amount of time and what can wait (Mueller).. Time does not wait for anyone, so this is a great way to spread stuff out rather than trying to cram everything in all at once.
I am not great at multitasking nor managing my time very well. I always have multiple tasks I have to get done within a very short amount of time. Sometimes I end up cramming all of my homework in the night before it is due and I will get so stressed out to the point that I want to give up. After reading Muller’s article and using Covey’s matrix, I have put together my own matrix in order to help me manage my time a little bit better. Before I used the matrix, I would just put all of the tasks that had to be done into one date on my calendar. Then I would try to do all of those things at one time which ended up being too much to do in one day, so I didn’t do it at all. Now, I have divided a couple tasks into a few days so that I have enough time to spread my priorities out and still get them done. This helps so that nothing is urgent and important but rather, important and not urgent. From the Mindtools Website, which gives great tips on managing time, I have also decided to create a to-do list to write down everything that needs to be done each week. I will then categorize those tasks into my matrix for the week. This will help me stay on track with my priorities each week instead of procrastinating the night before. We all know time is valuable and something as simple as a matrix or to-do list can help significantly (Time Management).
Don’t be an average person and wait until the last minute to get your work done. Getting big projects done, finishing homework, and studying are a few things people don’t like to do. In fact, they probably wait until the day before to do it. Wouldn’t you rather feel a sense of knowing that everything is done rather than feeling a sense of urgency the night before? “It’s easier said than done,” is what we hear a lot and this is true but if everyone can find ways to space their time and priorities out it would make life a lot easier and less stressful. Time is something we all value and using every minute of it is something even more valuable.
Works Cited
Sparks, Sarah D. "Studies on Multitasking Highlight Value of Self-Control." Education Week. N.p., 15 May. 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2016. <http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/05/16/31
multitasking_ep.h31.html?tkn=PTWFGpBwR5o7bKrnCvQ
ZswL8Vr%2BlUoJB%2B62c&cmp=clp-edweek>.
Mueller, Steve. "Stephen Covey's Time Management Matrix Explained." Planet of Success. N.p.,
9. Oct. 2015. Web. 24 Oct. 2016. <http://www.planetofsuccess.com/blog/2015/stephen
-coveys-time-management-matrix-explained/>.
"Time Management." MindTools. N.p., 2016. Web. 28. Oct. 2016.
<https://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_HTE.htm>.