Doing two things at once

In a recent PSHE+ lesson with Year 10 we were looking at time management and completed surveys on how much time we spent on different activities. We differentiated between maintenance time (eating, washing, sleeping etc.), sold time (time spent in school, on chores, on homework and other commitments) and chosen time (real free time).

We discussed how we can manage our time carefully and realise that we have more chosen time than we thought. One idea is using maintenance time to also do tasks such as reading notes and textbooks. So for example we could read in the bath, whilst we are travelling or waiting for lifts/buses. Whilst watching our favourite tv programmes we could also be doing some maintenance time work such as nails, hair, ironing (yes teenagers...you are capable of this amazing act), keeping fit (put your exercise bike in front of the tv) and even eating (though I am not necessarily advocating tv dinners). The key thing is not to waste time, not to let it drift away from us whilst we mooch about, dithering about starting homework, chores etc. Do not watch any old thing on TV but do use your chosen time fully as our relaxation time is as valuable as any other thing we do.

However there are some things we cannot double up. Many students admitted to studying whilst having their tv on and having their computer logged onto MSN. They felt that they could manage all these different activities but did admit that they probably are not working as efficiently as they could. I came across this piece of information and thought it mmight be of interest to those of us who think we can multi-task whilst working:

A few years ago, Dr. Marcel Just, co-director of the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, published a study that was widely used to justify laws banning people from using cells phones while driving. This was the first study using magnetic resonance images of brain activity to compare what happens in people's heads when they try to do two tasks at a time. The study revealed that brain activity does not double. Instead, the brain activity devoted to each task decreases. People performing two tasks simultaneously do neither one as well as they do each one alone. Performance always suffers.

So when studying or doing any important activity it is best to focus only on that task, with at most quiet, concentration inducing music in the background. We did agree that perhaps it would be more effective to focus on the work first. This way the work would be of a better quality and even finished in a shorter amount of time. This would then mean the remaining time would be completely free to spend how we chose, with no horrid deadlines hanging over our heads...bliss!

So leave the multi-tasking to maintenance and chosen time. Sold time requires more concentration.