No One is a Machine
A common complaint around the world is that there is never enough time in the day to do everything that needs to be done. The problem is that so many people do not understand that in order to use their time effectively, they must know how to prioritize their activities. Many people focus on trivial matters that are not important, such as television shows and movies, and may also spend their time surfing the Internet, or engaging with people through social media. Many others believe that they can perform those activities while pursuing other tasks at the same time. The truth is that, although multitasking has become a common term to define those who can engage in two or more activities at once, efficiently, no one is a machine. No one can perform tasks as quickly and efficiently as a machine, but by learning how to prioritize, it becomes easier to accomplish goals in a timely manner.
Technology has increased the desire to perform as efficiently as machines. People have always appealed to the idea of doing multiple things simultaneously. Teenagers today focus on up to six types of media during the day, including television and phones, simultaneously. Many people today believe that they can multitask, but the truth is that they have never multitasked in their lives; they have only rapidly switched their focus from one thing to another and back. It happens so quickly that it is unnoticeable, but it still impacts our ability to truly focus on tasks. The prefrontal cortex in the brain focuses on only one task at a time in order to make decisions. It is simply how our thought processes work. Because our brain can only make one decision at a time, other tasks being performed alongside the current task are put on hold, if only for less than a second. It actually takes more time to multitask than to focus on one task at any given moment. It is simply more efficient to handle one thing at a time. According to a study in 2009, people who claimed to multitask more often than others achieved lower scores on memory tests because they were so distracted. It gets harder and harder for people to switch their attention back to their original task if they are interrupted by distractions. Technology, and more specifically media and social media, simply creates more of those distractions for people, but with more education on how they can prioritize and increase their safety precautions when it comes to performing certain tasks, people will be able to get things done more quickly and reliably. Self control should be the main focus of next generations because children as young as age four who show more self control obtain more success in life, as shown in the Marshmallow Test. This self control, practiced at such a young age and cultivated through one’s life, has shown to be helpful in today’s world where there are so many distractions that people give in to. Some people may say that those with this good self control are excellent “multitaskers,” but in reality, they are just very good at prioritizing their activities and realizing that their rewards will come more quickly if they focus on one thing at a time.The fact of the matter at hand, is that humans cannot multitask because the brain is not structured to do so (Sparks).
Last week, I believed I was multitasking when I was reading my abnormal psychology text book while watching a show with my mom. I was on the last section of the chapter I was focusing on, highlighting important information that the previous owner of the book overlooked, mainly because they carelessly highlighted the entire page. Part of my focus was on the information that the book provided, part of it was on the show, and part of it was on the fact that I had to use a different color highlighter to actually highlight the important information rather than the entire textbook, which the previous owner of the book did not understand (if you can’t tell, it still bothers me every time). I did not actually begin watching the show with her until I was on this last section. After I finished reading it, I realized that I did not retain any information from it, but I closed the book anyway, believing that I would remember more when I woke up the next day, but I did not remember. I believed that if I focused on the text during a commercial break that I would be just fine, but it was hard to switch my attention to the book when it had been on the TV seconds before.
One strategy of time management is Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix, which Steve Mueller explains in his article, “Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix Explained.” The matrix is an organizer for activities done on a daily basis. There are four quadrants, divided into important and not important and urgent and not urgent categories, and the quadrants are set up as follows: important/urgent, important/not urgent, not important/urgent, and not important/not urgent. In order to organize daily activities, one must understand how important and urgent are defined in terms of why and how Mr. Covey set up the matrix. As explained in the article, when something is classified as “important” it is usually because the activity is executed in order to accomplish something for oneself. Anything that is then classified as “urgent” is usually being completed for other people, and there are problems that could arise if it is not addressed promptly enough. The matrix can be applied by focusing on the second quadrant, because most of the activities found in it, meaning, those that one has identified as being important, but not urgent, are classified as being having long-term significant impacts on how one functions. If there are too many important/urgent activities, it can create a lot of stress. The matrix helps to prioritize activities and reduce the time spent on activities that are not important/not urgent, because they only eat up precious time, making no impact on long term goals that one wishes to achieve. For example, someone can use the matrix to organize their daily activities and future activities. One way to use the matrix to achieve long-term goals and to promote a change in how time is spent, is to perform daily assessments for one week. After prioritizing using the matrix each day for one week, another matrix is used to summarize all of the weekly activities, and changes can then be made if the majority of activities were spent in the first or fourth quadrants (Mueller). The Time Management Matrix is a fantastic way to reduce stress, especially for students who procrastinate often and may deal with many important/urgent assignments that were initially important, but not urgent.
I have used the Time Management Matrix to prioritize my own activities. According to my matrix, I spend most of my time in quadrants two and four, or the important/not urgent and not important/not urgent quadrants. I typically stay on top of all of my college assignments and finish them in a timely manner so that I am not rushing to finish them right before their deadlines. This reduces the stress I already feel from taking classes and completing tasks at home, such as renovating my new bedroom. My family and I need to paint the room and put down flooring so that I can move my bed and possessions in there so that I can have my own room and space to study. This is under important/not urgent because I share a room with my sister, so there is not an immediate need to move to the room beside her since I still have a place to sleep while we work on it. I also spend time exercising and doing house chores, which are both important, but not urgent. The rest of my time is typically spent thinking about my future, playing video games, and watching movies. Sometimes I do these activities before completing some assignments, but I still have enough time on my hands to handle things in a timely manner. I have just started a part time job with a schedule that changes every week, though, which means I will have to change how much time is spent in the fourth quadrant, doing useless, unproductive things. Another large part of my time is dedicated to figuring out what equipment I will need to start a gaming YouTube channel, which I will need to dedicate a lot more time to, as well. I like playing video games, and I would like to do something productive about them and entertain others, but this will require a lot of change in how I manage my time. Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix will be helpful in my endeavors to prioritize my studies, job, and future aspirations.
Works Cited
Mueller, Steve. “Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix Explained.” Planet of Success. N.p. Oct. 9, 2015. Web. March 14, 2015.<http://www.planetofsuccess.com/blog/2015/stephen-coveys-time-management-matrix-explained/>. Sparks, Sarah D. "Studies on Multitasking Highlight Value of Self-Control." Education Week. Editorial Projects in Education, 15 May 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2016. <http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/05/16/31multitasking_ep.h31.html?tkn=PTWFGpBwR5o7bKrnCvQZswL8Vr+lUoJB+62c>.