Distractions in Time Management

Distractions and multitasking are two of the main reasons for inefficient time management. In today’s world, it is extremely easy to get distracted by our phones or laptops, especially since we are usually using these technologies (primarily computers) to do our work. Even when time is planned out, it sometimes takes much longer than planned to accomplish a task. This is usually because even when we start something at its planned time, we may end up running into many distractions that push back how efficiently we use our time. In order to eliminate distractions, when doing work I tried a few different things. First, I turned my phone on do not disturb and put it away into my backpack. A lot of people use their phone to keep track of the time, but to limit the distraction of a cell phone, it is better to use the device you are on or a clock in the room. Using an actual timer to give yourself a time limit of how long a task should take you is another method I tried using; it was very helpful for short assignments that may take 10–20 minutes. I tried setting a timer for a homework assignment and by the time the timer went off, I still was not done, which actually caused more stress. I found the timer method effective when I gave myself a long enough time limit and checked the timer every few minutes to see how much time was left. I think that organizations should implement a time limit system to ensure their workers are using time given effectively. “Learning to manage time can enable us to achieve greater effectiveness and success in our practices. The skills required for time management are often acquired at the school of life experience- where we first fail the test and are taught the lesson afterward.”(Rosen 2006). In other words, in finding ways to manage time, we will use a trial and error method, where we will try and fail many different times to find what works. I have found this to be true, as I failed using a timer but then found how using it works for me.

Source: Hallac, M. (2017, September 27). Light at the end of the tunnel motivation [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@mmhallac/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-motivation-59f485ed4d86