This is the third part of my “Make Time For Time” series.

Multitasking is a curious beast.  Just because you’re texting someone while listening to music while the TV is on while you’re chatting to a mate on Facebook while checking the football news, doesn’t mean you’re actually multitasking.

Doing several things at the same time like this is called task-switching.  You aren’t actually doing several things at once, but you have chosen to dilute your focus and switch between several tasks.

Yes, you can stick on the radio and do the washing up at the same time.  Yes, you can chat to someone on your mobile and walk to campus at the same time.  But your focus is still being diluted.  As soon as you put more complex tasks into the mix, your focus dilutes even further.  Why do you think it’s so dangerous to text and drive?  You can’t process the information properly at the same time.  You’re switching from one thing to another which, in the example of texting and driving, is downright dangerous.

So let’s go back to the less life-threatening example of multitasking in the comfort of your room.  If one of the tasks is to write your essay and another involves the Internet, you may not be concentrating enough on the essay to bring out your best work.

Fear not! You don’t need to stop living life until you finish your coursework.  Instead, you can put a working structure to your task-switching.

Concentrated bursts of time directly focused on a single task may be all you need to work more productively.  Just 20 or 30 minutes (or more if you can bare it…) focused solely on a particular task gives you time to knuckle down and remove other distractions from your mind.  Instead of mistakenly thinking you’re doing several things at once, you’re carefully managing your time in small bites.

To do this most effectively, find an area without distraction so you definitely keep other tasks out of the way.  That includes switching off devices and programs that you’re not using for the task.

You may argue that you work best when other stuff is going on around you.  Perhaps you’ve tried to focus on separate issues in the past, with no success.

Well, if you must keep working as a hardcore task-switcher, by all means go for it.  If it seems to be a strength of yours, I’ll suggest this one thing…Do give yourself plenty time before the deadline, in case you encounter unexpected problems along the way.  Don’t panic because time’s run out; give yourself time to later on the more difficult elements of your work.  No plan is foolproof, so always give yourself a way out of danger, even if you do prefer task-switching.

Task switching is sometimes necessary, however you work.  In a situation where you can’t get any further with a particular task without waiting, feel free to move on to another task while you wait.  This type of switching is an exercise in prioritising and managing your time effectively.  Working through different tasks this way may involve what looks like juggling, but it’s more akin to plate spinning.  You still need to work carefully to make sure everything is under control, but you handle the tasks independently, rather than in a single movement.

Anyway, enough of juggling and spinning plates.  The main point to take home is not to dilute your time by working on too many things at once.  A linear approach to tasks may sound weak, but it’s a stronger method than you think.

Which are you…a single-tasker or a task-juggler?  What’s the greatest number of different things you’ve juggled at the same time?

In the next part of this series, I look at the effect technology has on our time.

This is the second part of my “Make Time For Time” series.

I recently posted about our strange relationship with time.  Well, it gets stranger.  It’s not always the time of day or how long you have on a project that affects you.  It can be the stage you’re at with a project that changes your concept of time.

Let me explain.  Some of us are wonderful at getting a project off the ground.  We put in all the research and initial notes, getting all sorts of ideas in place and rushing around to find even more fuel to keep the project going.

In all this excitement and hard work, the time has melted away and it’s nearly the deadline.  But there’s still so much to do and the project is nowhere near finishing.  You think the deadline was unrealistic…but perhaps you needed to use your time differently in order to approach the finish better.

Not everyone suffers like this.  Some people are fantastic at getting the work done when everything is in place, but they see such a mountain ahead of them that it seems like all the time in the world wouldn’t be enough to get it right.

With time almost up, they have to give it their best shot.  And once they start working, they whizz through it and finish without a problem.  But missing out on a relaxed, initial effort means that time hasn’t been used wisely and grades suffer as a consequence.

Sounds scary.  But however you work, don’t fear time!  The clock ticks on, no matter how you feel.

So how do you combat the two time-eaters mentioned above?

For those who start well:

1. Keep the deadline date in your mind at all times.  Better still, set your own deadline ahead of time, so you’re prepared for all circumstances.
2. Create a plan to fit out over the time you have. Again, working out the time in advance means that you can keep an eye out at each stage of your work, rather than get too excited and find too many things to occupy your mind as you go along.

For those who need a push to get started:

1. Make a step-by-step plan of what you intend to do.  Start on the first steps straight away.  Don’t delay, or you build it up in your mind.  The sooner you start, the less bother it will prove in the long run.
2. Be aware when you’re procrastinating.  It’s a big step to start a job, especially if it fills you with dread.  But it’s easier to take that big step than to find other things to do.  Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away; it will just turn it into an even bigger problem later.  Confront your fears and get on with the work.  Just 20 minutes or so to get the ball rolling.  The rest should come naturally.

When you don’t have a specific deadline, you should put a deadline on it yourself so it doesn’t drag on forever.  If the task isn’t important, what would happen if you didn’t do it at all? If the task is important, do yourself justice and make it a finite project.  After completing the task, you’re able to move on to the next project without getting so much unnecessary build up.  You get enough of that without having to contribute to the to-do list yourself!

Are you better at beginning work, or finishing it?  How do you manage time effectively?  Do you have lots on the go at once, or do you prefer to complete one thing after another?

In the next part of this series, I’ll look at the perils of juggling too many tasks.

Starting today, over six posts, I’m dedicating my time to…Time!

We all manage time differently.  And while one person gets up at the crack of dawn to get their work done, another person works at night in a productive buzz until the early hours of the morning.

Yes, we work better at different times of the day:

• Morning – The Lark is most productive in the morning;
• Noon – Middle of the day, you’re buzzing with ideas;
• Night – As the sun sets, the mind awakes;
• Any time – Both a boon and a pain.  A few lucky people seem to find work easy whatever the hour.  But beware, as a productivity lull can hit at any point.  It’ll come back soon, but what if the work is urgent?

We have different ways of managing time.  Three ways crop up quite often:

Whatever comes my way – Impulsive
This isn’t a good way of managing time.  If you don’t make plans, anything can bite you on the bum and mess up a happy existence.  It’s fun to take up all sorts of offers at short notice and you may thrive on the excitement of not knowing what’s around the corner.  But is it worth the hassle in the long run?  You’ll realise it’s not worth it when things go wrong.  Don’t wait until that time.  It’s not pretty.  It’s been known to cause otherwise joyful individuals to crumble.

Embrace the future – Planner
Some people are the opposite of impulsive.  They take planning to a whole new level.  Everything has to be worked out in advance so there are no surprises.  Down to the last second, it’s all expected, all arranged.  Nothing is agreed until the full details are known.  The last thing a planner wants is an unexpected surprise.  But the more obsessive the planning becomes, the more surprises you’re bound to encounter.  So hardcore planning can be just as damaging as acting solely on impulse.

Work from past experience – Cautious
Hindsight is a great thing.  Shame we don’t find out until it’s too late.  As you live your life, your experiences make you the person you are.  A cautious personality will occasionally be impulsive, but generally prefers to keep that to a minimum.  The majority of the time they will have an idea of what’s ahead, trying not to be too restrictive or anal about the process.  A cautious person can become too cautious, turning them into more of a planner (or someone who won’t commit to anything through fear).  But a healthy dose of caution itself is nothing to worry about.

Impulsive and Planner elements can live together, because certain aspects of your life are prone to more planning and others happen off the cuff.

Anything is possible with time.  At times of panic, we even imagine time slowing down.  Clearly, it’s important to maintain a healthy relationship with it!

So this post sets the scene.  I have another five posts over the coming fortnight.  They’ll focus on:

• Personal strengths and weaknesses;
• The perils of the ‘task-juggler’;
• Time and technology;
• Planning and managing time;
• Finding time to create your perfect study setup.

If you don’t want to miss these posts, click here to subscribe to TheUniversityBlog in a reader, if you don’t already.  You can also clickety-click to follow me on Twitter and I’ll put out links each time I post to the site.

You’ve got the time to do that, haven’t you? 🙂