Page 82 - Keys To Community College Success

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CONQUER YOUR TIME TRAPS

Complete the following on paper or in digital format.

Think of two common time traps that you encounter. For each, come up with two ways to manage it effectively.
Here’s an example:
Time Trap: Texting

Response 1: Tell friend: “I’ll call you in an hour. I need to finish this paper.”
Response 2: Decide I will respond to my text messages after I’ve read two chapters.
1. Your turn: For each time trap of yours, name it and describe two possible responses.

2. Next, for each of the two time traps you identified, name which of the two responses will most help you to take
control of the situation and why.
3. Finally, what did this exercise teach you about your personal time traps? Do you find yourself needing to be
stricter with your time? Why, and how?

10 minutes on Facebook for every 50 minutes of studying.” “I will choose one TV
show per day.” Stick to your limits—use a cellphone alarm if you need it. You can
even set up innovative browser plug-ins to block certain time-wasting sites for
specific periods of time. Check out LeechBlock (for Firefox) or StayFocusd (for
Google Chrome).
■ Think before you commit. Whatever you are asked to do—whether work-related,
family-related, in connection with a school organization, or another activity—
don’t say “yes” right away. Consider how the commitment will affect your sched-
ule now and in the near future. If you determine the reward isn’t worth the risk,
say “no” respecfully but firmly.
■ Be realistic about time commitments. Many students who combine work and
school find they have to trim one or the other. Overloaded students often fall
behind and experience high stress levels. Determine what is reasonable for you;
you may find that taking longer to graduate is a viable option if you need to
work while in school. You may also decide that you can handle easing up on
work hours in order to spend more time on schoolwork.

The Myth of Multitasking
Over the years, people have come to believe that multitasking is a crucial skill. How-
ever, recent research has shown that the human brain is biologically capable of doing
only one thinking task at a time—at best, it can only switch rapidly between tasks.
When you think you are multitasking, you are really only “switch-tasking.” 7
This means that if you try to do two tasks at once, you can actually work on only
one at a time. What you do is interrupt the first activity with the second and then

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