Time Management Mayhem

            Today, there is a shortage of time. Everyone has somewhere to be, yesterday, and everything needs to be finished NOW! Learning about some time management skills can be a useful and positive move in a person’s life than can help everyone survive time management dilemmas.

            The younger generation, 18 and under, multitask more often than anyone else. In addition to school studies, they commonly use more than six types of media simultaneously. FOMO, fear of missing out on something, is a strong factor in this activity.  At Stanford University in 2009, there was a study complete of people’s task switching capabilities. They compared people who said they multitasked often to people who did not multitask. It was found that multitaskers are more easily distracted and performed worse on memory tests.  The fact is that the brain cannot multitask. It can only truly focus on one issue or task at a time. When a person tries to multitask they never completely get back on track in the thought process. Changing back and forth on multiple tasks only takes away from the actual learning process because one never thinks deeply on just one thing. The prefrontal cortex is in charge of decision making and gets a slight bottleneck of delayed response to each task, therefore, making the concentration level of each task reduced and results in multiple distractions. A brain can only logically be in one place at a time. When reading a book, and in the middle of reading, a text message is sent to you and you reply, your brain is switched from one task to the other. Physically, only one task is being done.   Changing back and forth from one to the other task will result in lower scores on school work and less learning. In fact, trying to “multitask” can make scores result in a 25% reduction and can make a huge difference in a whole letter grade in a class. Time management would be better if the students actually completed one task at a time then move on to the next. People who do not practice multitasking have better success academically and socially because they have a much higher level of self-control. In essence, multitasking is actually a misnomer because we see that the brain physically cannot do so. People are not actually multitaskers, but switch-taskers, or attention switchers. (Sparks)

            I would say that I attempt to multitask when I do some of my class work at home. I tend to have my cell phone there with me and will often respond to, initiate, or take part in texting or checking social media. Aside from just trying to write a paper, I also can get so very easily distracted if I am trying to study for a test. That particular activity is most definitely hard to get back into the same frame of mind once I get distracted.  The specific class I am referring to is medical terminology and that requires a lot of memorization and needs devotion. I will admit that many times the multitasking is definitely not in my best interest, but every now and then I do actually need the information that I have received on the text message or phone call. I have also noticed that if I take away my cell phone I will concentrate much better on the task at hand and tend to get my paper researched or written, or my word studying done much easier. Essentially, I have learned that the studies I have read are very accurate and correct, because I have seen those same results in my own daily activities of school work vs. cell phone.

            American keynote speaker Stephen Covey, who is also the author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, developed a system of quadrants to help organize and prioritize their time management by importance and urgency of activities. Important items are major contributors to your overall achievement of goals. Urgent items would require immediate attention and are urgent to take care of right now. The matrix of quadrants that help organize life is as follows: Quad I is for urgent tasks deemed important; Quad II is for important tasks which are categorized as planning and focus; Quad III for distractions and tasks which are mainly the things and time you do for other people besides yourself; Quad IV holds your time wasters.  Time wasters may seem unimportant and may hold no value for reaching your goal, but these tasks may be pivotal in you enjoying your life and having a good quality of life.  These quadrants can easily be utilized in the daily life of all people. Quad I items are usually your very important necessary tasks that you absolutely have to complete. Either a deadline or physical or monetary detriment could happen. Quad II is where people can focus and would benefit from planning your schedule out by important and urgency of tasks. Quad III is your very commonly shared tasks of taking care of everyone else instead of focusing on yourself. You could possible find that you spend entirely too much time in this quad. Maybe delegating some tasks in this quad to other people would be in your best interest. We all need to enjoy life! Quad IV is a place of where we, as humans, need some down time. We need this quad to be able to enjoy our lives for periods of time. Without quad IV, we would not be able to handle the everyday stress and strains of accomplishing Quad I. (Mueller)

            Time management is the pivotal step in reaching your goals. First, you must understand that urgent means that the responsibility requires immediate attention. Important means the responsibility contributes to the achievement of your goals. In the first quadrant of time management matrix are important and also urgent items. This would mean projects with deadlines, emergencies and crises. Quadrant II would have important but not urgent items. This could possibly contain planning, training, and time for exercise/health upkeep. This makes quadrant II important in long term care and planning of your life. If you do not pay attention to quadrant II they will eventually become Quadrant I items.  Quadrant III lists urgent but not important things. This would likely be interruptions and meetings. Quadrant III items can possibly be delegated or rescheduled.  Lastly, quadrant IV has both not important and not urgent, which basically means they serve no purpose to your goal and should be eliminated. These things would be time-wasters, internet browsing, goofing off, and watching television. (Mueller)

            Again, learning to write out priorities and tasks and prioritize them in a timely fashion can save a tremendous amount of stress. Learning to delegate, take time for one’s self, and taking care of the urgent things first can make a huge difference in everyday life. Personally, I have learned that prioritizing my life can make a difference in my stress level. It’s just a matter of following through and sticking to my quads that I have developed for myself. If I can learn to manage time better, I can accomplish all that I need and have time left for fun.

Works Cited

Mueller, Steve, “Steven Covey’s Time Management Matrix Explained,” Planet of

Success, N.p., 09 Oct. 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2016. http://www.planetofsuccess.com/blog/2015/stephen-coveys-time-management-matrix-explained/

Sparks, Sarah, “Studies on Multitasking Highlight Value of Self-Control,” Education

Week, 31. 15 May 2012. 21 Feb. 2016. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/05/16/31multitasking_ep.h31.html