6 Ways to Multi-Task
How do you learn and teach multi-tasking? There is a way!
Here are some things for parents and teens to think about in this multi-tasking age.
1. This generation actually cannot help multitasking. This is NOT an excuse and it is NOT good. But, I actually feel a compulsion to do multiple things at once. When I am checking email and just checking email I feel like it is desperately quiet and have to turn on a podcast to half listen to (so I end up half hearing a podcast and checking my email a bit slower than normal). Many kids actually cannot help typing on iChat, listening to music and talking on the phone at once…it literally creeps up on us and just happens.
2. They say our brains work faster now. In music videos in the early 90’s the screen shot changed 1 time per every 1.6 seconds. Now it changes 1 time per every .36 seconds! We are now being trained to take in multiple things at once at a rapid pace. So when things are slow (like classes) we tune out and get bored. This is not good, but we actually are used to taking in more, more quickly.
3. There is a great difference between multitasking and distractions. I personally believe that IMing during homework is not multitasking– it is a distraction. Listening to music while doing homework can actually help teens focus or study. It might not be a distraction. It is important to check-in and see if the other task is helping or harming the more important one.
4. Multitasking Can Be Good. Sometimes it is good to multitask. I keep tennis balls under my coch and stretch my feet and hands during the commercials. Multitasking might be checking email while I wait for my paper to print, this is multitasking for the better.
5. Multitasking Can Be and Addiction. I know I am addicted to multitasking. I know this, it is not good. So I have made certain activities “OK” for multitasking. I have a number of podcasts that I think it is ok to half listen to. I listen to funny books on tape in the car where it does not matter if I miss some of it when I am driving. I have RSS feeds that are not that important that I can mindlessly check when I am on the phone with someone. If you feel you or your child has a compulsion to do this, try to find things he actually can multitask with.
How to Multi-task:
- Make a plan.
- Schedule the amount of time you need for each task.
- Start with one project at a time.
- Eliminate unnecessary distractions. To multitask, limit yourself to the two or three tasks.
- Choose compatible tasks. It is hard to do two listening tasks at the same time, but reading and listening is much easier.
- Choose interruptible tasks. Make sure that the tasks you pick to multitask with are easily stopped and started again.
