Keegan Lemke

Multitasking

   Multitasking is commonly defined as the handling of more than one task at a time by a single person. Many people believe they are excellent at multitasking, some even on a chapmion level, but this skill is nearly impossible to execute and can be detrimental to our minds (Sparks).

   According to Sarah D. SPars a staff writer with Education Week, "The brain cannot be at two places at once." On average, children between the ages of 13 to 18 use six or more types of social media at a time outside o school. This is achieved by paying continusous partial attention to all sources, preventing the student from concentrating fully on each source. Contrary to popular belief, it is in fact of average takes more time to multitask two seperate tasks then it does to accomplish each tasks in an order. An experiment was conducted at Stanford University called "the marshmallow test" it provided feedback and insight on the success of impulse control. In this sudy, a marshmallow would be given to a child and the researchers would inform the subjects that if they waited to eat the marshmallow for 15 minutes, they would receive a second marshmallow. If the subject did not wait, they would not get the second marshmallow. The results of this test were long lasting, the researchers followed the cildren into their adult lives, the kids that did wait compared to the kids that did not waitto eat the marsmallow did better in school. The test has been recently revised by psychology professor Dr. Rosen. He took over 100 students and had them watch a lecture video that they would be tested on after. During, the video he text messaged the students on an average four to weight times on unrelated matters. The test concluded that those who responded quickly to the messages, on average, scored lower than those that waited to respond (Sparks).

   During, my work day at a coffee shop I am continuously bombarded with multiple tsasks and situations all at once. If I'm not taking an order at the drive through while talking to anothercustomer, handling money, and giving change back, I'm making an endless amount of drinks, all having precise instructions and modifications depending on the customer's whim. It is evident that I must have some degree of multitasking skills or, more accurately, paying continuous partial attention. Doing this throughout the day leaves a person mentally drained. Paying continuous partial attention takes a toll on me during the day because i am constantly trying to be a step ahead of my taski. Ibeliee tat doing multiplke tasks at once hinders me from completing each task to the best of my ability. On the other hand, my efficiency in finishing all these procedures are amplified. To be frank this job requires the kind of person who was the annoying kid in schhol, the one that would do a million things at once and would constantly be yelled at by the teacher to sit down, it's safe to say I fit in perfectly.

   President Dwight D. Eisenhower in a 1954 speech quoted the president of Northwestern University at the time stating, "I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are not urgent." He then coined the idea called The Eisenhower Principle, which effectively is a way to sort one's workload into four distinct categories. The categories are as follow: Urgent and Important, Urgent and Not Important, Important and Not Urgent, and Not Important and NOt Urgent. Important and Urgent means activities that could not have been foreseen or last minute things that the individual has put off doing. Important and Not Urgent activities will help a person achieve their long-term goals, but it is not needed immeediately. You should allow yourself a certain amount of time to get something in this category done. Urgent and Not Imprtant tasks are time sensitive, but will distract you from completing your goals. The most common source of this category of activities are other people, asking a person to do their work for them. Lastly Not Urgent and Not Important these tasks are merely distractions that hinder you from coming to an end with the current task at hand (MindTools).

   Dr. Covey implemented Eisenhower's Principle and created a matrix with all the quadrats corresponding to the late president's categories. I assessed myself and wanted to see where my activities and priorities lay. A lot boiled down to two categories: Urgent and Not Important and Not Urgent and Not Important. The goal is to move all of one's priorities into the second quadrant, which is Important but Not Urgent. Tbrough making daily lists, calendars, and schedules, I was able to move most of my activities into that quadrant. However, some items still remain in tha tlast quadrant. Which is Not Urgent and Not Important, such as text messaging, playing video games, and social media. I have allowed myself to keep those there so that way I still have some type of entertainment and mindless recreational time (Covey).

   Multitasking is merely an impossible feat that is detrimental to us as a human spieces, what we value as such is just paying continuous partial attention. Which only slows a person down from completing the task at hand.

                                                                                                WORK CITED

“Eisenhower’s Urgent/Important Principle: Using Time Effectively, Not Just Efficiently.” Mind Tools. Web. 14 April, 2016.                           https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_91.htm

Steve Mueller. “Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix Explain.” Planet of Success. Planet of Success, 09 Oct. 2015. Web. 14. April 2016. 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. Education Week, 15 May 2012. Web. 14 April. 2016. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/05/16/31multitaskingep.h31.html?tkn=PTWFGpBwR507bKrnCvQZswL8Vr%BIUoJB%2B62c&cmp=clp-edweek