Tag Archives: Multitasking

Multitasking And Keeping Your Family Happy

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This past labor day, I took my wife and kids out to a little place called Rinky Dink Family Fun Center.  Basically it was an activity place that has what seems like a ton of fun stuff for kids (and to a lesser extent adults too).  It has three putt-putt golf courses, an arcade, a go-kart course, bumper boats, a bouncy inflatable to jump in, a batting cage, food, ice cream, etc.  Pretty much it’s basically a kid’s paradise, but not for me.

 

putt putt golf

putt putt golf

 

I decided to take the latest book that I borrowed from the library along with my new laptop and was going to go to town and crank out a few posts for my blog.  Once I got there, my daughter convinced me otherwise (yeah, she’s got me wrapped around her little finger).  So, I bought 4 rounds of golf (at $6 per person) and we played putt-putt golf.  We all had a great time, and the kids, wife and I were heading to the arcade portion of the family center, when I noticed something very unusually.  There, in the room where they hold birthdays, tucked out-of-the-way sitting by a small table, was a man with a book and a laptop.  I thought, “he stole my idea“, but good for him!

As I stood there in disbelieve, a party of four young teenagers went over to him, asked for their dad’s credit card, then got in line for some food (ice cream I believe).  Apparently, he was multitasking by taking his teenage kid(s) along with some friend to the Family Fun Center.  You see, the Rinky Dink center has a pay one price and the guests can do anything that they want all day long, and I’m betting that is what the guy decided to do.  In my head I was clapping and congratulating him for living what I preach and multitasking to get more done.  He’s being a great dad, by letting his kids have a great time, while doing some serious work while keeps a close eye on them or at least know where they are at and what they are doing.

I was going to do the same idea as he was doing, but my daughter’s wish to have me participate in put-put golf, won out (and always will).  But in this guy’s case, his teenage kids and their friends would have a better time goofing off around in the park.  So for this man, he had a win-win scenario!  He got his work done and scored big points with his kids (and their friends).

I have to admit, I was dumbfounded to see my idea being practiced by another person.  And I thought I was so clever…  I believe that I just saw what I will be  doing and look like in another 3 to 5 years from now.  I heard the twilight theme sounds in my head as I left the future version of myself back at the Family Fun Center, very weird experience!

Do you multitask in cases like this one, effectively creating win-win scenarios for you and your family?

MR

 

Maximizing Time While Changing Car Oil

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Blue Truck

Truck

Well, it’s been 5 months and it’s time to change the oil in my car.

I remember as a teenager and later as a cash poor college student changing the oil myself.  It’s not really a hard task, but I still hate to waste the time doing it especially during finals week…  As a senior in college, I decided that I didn’t have the time and took my care to a Jiffy Lube.  Of course, I took my Operating Systems book so I could read and prepare for an upcoming test while I waited.

Flash forward to today, right now I’m sitting at the much cheaper Walmarts Auto Department again waiting for my car to have the oil changed.  Of course, I’m not just sitting in the sitting room waiting, I’m doing the following during this particular visit:

  1. I’m typing this blog post!
  2. I’m eating a salad at the same time
  3. I hope to read a book after I get 90% of this post done.
  4. I’m dumping off my oil from my lawnmower and snow thrower.
  5. If I have time I’m going to go shopping for some cheap but nutricional food for my diet.
  6. Enjoying a mediocre cup of free coffee from Walmart (lol).

Since I’m not wasting time while I get my oil changed, this experience is actually kind of relaxing and pleasant.  The entire Walmart oil process cost my $30, but that’s not too bad considering I’m getting so much done.

One of my favorite thing to do anymore is maximize my time so I get easy stuff done at the same time, or maybe one complex task grouped with mindless tasks such as eating or waiting for something.

The only way it could be better would be if it were snowing or raining during the change.  In the summer, I don’t mind changing oil as much because the weather is great.

Well, the Walmart employee just pulled my car in the garage to start working on it, and this blog post is done.  Now onto the book that I brought!

Cheers,

MR

Maximizing Time By MultiTasking Tasks More Wisely

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not me, lol

I remember when I first tried to do multitasking, I got overwhelmed.

I think I was trying I update two different computer applications by inputting data in parallel; I was switching back and forth like a madman inputting data between them.  You see, back then it took a while for changes to happen to a document so after each saving; it would take a few seconds for the save to complete, giving me time to do a similar process on the other application.  I eventually got it done after a few boggled up sessions, and fixes…  I’ve learned from experience, that this isn’t the best type of multi-taking!!!

However, as I’m typing this, I’m actually doing two things at the same time!  I’m waiting in my car in the middle school parking lot for my son to get out of school on his first day back to school, and obviously, I’m also typing this post!

Yep, I’m multi-tasking the correct way!  Multitasking more than one task primarily works best when you have one or more task that don’t require much thinking, paired with only one task that requires you to focus on it a higher degree of attention.

So now that you know my belief around an optimal multitasking system…  You may also be wondering what other ways do I maximize time by multitasking more wisely?

Following are my favorite ways to multitask:

Listening to audio books while driving to work.  This enables me to optimize my driving time which previously would have been wasted time taken out of my life to drive to my place of employment!  My total commute time, both to and from work per day, averages about 1 hour and 15 minutes (on a normal day).  So that adds up to 6 hours & 15 minutes I was wasting per week doing nothing but driving mindlessly to work!

At first I tested the waters by listening to a CD I borrowed from the library while driving to work.  This worked out great!  Next I progressed to Stephen King novels, again this was successful!  Then I started listening to classic audio books that I would never listen to, famous novels like “Animal Farm” and “1984”.  I even listened to classics that I’ve never heard of before, such an example would be the Ray Bradbury book, “Fahrenheit 451”.

Listening to audio books while driving on vacation trips.  Now you may be wondering what the difference is between this and “Listening to audio books while driving to work”?  The difference is that listening to such books while driving on vacation trips keeps me awake and delays drowsiness! I’ve only listen to audio books that are very entertaining and exciting enough to keep me awake!

After my recent vacation, I used this technique to drive home at night.  Listening to “Insomnia”  (ironic huh) by Stephen King, kept me awake.  It was a real driving aid, because prior to listening to audio books on vacation trips, I would start to fall asleep after a few hours.  Plus I hated driving!

Now, with the help of a good audio book, I can honestly say that I enjoy the driving part of the trip too!  This was a huge win-win for me!!!

Reading books while waiting in offices.  Hate waiting for the doctor or dentist in the waiting room?  Read a book while waiting in the office!  I find good biographies (examples like Benjamin Franklin or Warren Buffett) really fill this void!  With a biography, the story is a bit drying and anticlimactic, and you can pick up the book weeks later and not miss a beat.

These are some of the ways that I maximize my time by multitasking…

What are your favorite example of tasks that you like to pair together when you multitask?

-MR