Confessions of a multitasker
College often feels like a circus act.
Each week I juggle my classes, jobs, assignments and social life — all the while balancing the tight rope of health.
How are we, college students, able to manage all these things and still have time for the basic necessities of life such as eating, showering and sleeping?
Through multitasking, of course.
Our generation has grown up in a stimulating world of developing technology, and multitasking has become pretty much second nature. Even as I write this column, I have Youtube playing music and Facebook giving me notifications. I have tabs open to email, Canvas and Google among many other pages.
Is this productive? Probably not. I could probably do with closing a few tabs and turning all my attention to what I’m writing. I could turn off the music and sit with the sound of quiet punctuated by roommates and neighbors all around me.
But I probably won’t.
Mostly because I like to have music playing while I’m writing, movie soundtracks especially. Music helps me focus on what I’m doing and I’m able to tune out a lot of distractions with it.
Don’t get me wrong, music can be distracting too. I know having too many things going on at the same time splits my attention in many different directions and takes away from the quality of what I’m working on. On the other hand, multitasking also lets me get more things done in a timely fashion.
By multitasking, I can have more than one project going at once, switching back and forth between tasks so I can use my time more efficiently and finish all the things I need to get done faster.
That’s part of the juggling act, and it may not produce the best results, but it means I have more time to do the other things in my life that need to be done, like taking care of myself, finishing other assignments or working that extra shift at work.
I’ll admit it, sometimes I’ll drop something — a commitment or project — by accident, or I’ll set them to the side so I can focus on the things that demand more immediate attention.
I’ve discovered that there is a limit on how much each person is able to handle when it comes to multitasking. Some can manage several things at once, while others have trouble focusing when there is too much going on. And sometimes it just depends on what’s going on or the level of stress.
No matter your ability to multitask, I think there will come a time for everyone where it’s nice to just put everything down for a while. Take a break from distractions every so often to give the brain some rest and get away from all the stimulation in the world.
Juggling can be fun, but it can also be exhausting after a while.
— Miranda Lorenc double majors in biology and technical writing. She also has two jobs and when she’s not doing homework, she’s writing for Aggie Radio Theater. Contact her at miranda.lorenc@gmail.com or on Twitter @miranda_lorenc.