Hi everyone, I just realized I can't do more than one thing at a time and I don't mean cooking and talking on the phone or working biceps and listening to my iPod. I can more or less do those well together. I am talking about working on two completely different things that require considerable intelligent effort, like studying Japanese (i.e, reviewing sentences in Anki) and working on a web design, reading a book, learning a new programming language, etc.

I am usually able to do just one of these things along with my other responsibilities, teach all my classes, do my domestic chores (a lot goes here but usually it's nothing that requires a lot of mental effort), stay in touch with my family and friends, workout once or twice a week and that's pretty much it.

Mind you, I am not trying to do more than I can handle, but I think I should be able to do more. When I am in the middle of a programming project, learning a new technology, etc., my mindset is that all I can think of is that one thing. I kind of switch off whenever I need to teach a class, shop for groceries or clean the flat, but whenever I have free time my mind gets back to that single project / task.

Do you have any organization ideas, suggestions, advice you are willing to share that could help me mindsplit in 2 or 3 in order to do more?

Cheers

First of all, I think this is great for you, because your brain seems to be super-motivated for all the things you're doing.
Maybe you could try to take more breaks, I mean real, intentional breaks where you consciently try to "empty" your brain with something "stupid" like TV. I can imagine you're afraid to lose your precious time if you do it, but for me, this always helpful for a "fresh start" if i switch from one task to another.

Well, I do like Family Guy however I need to learn to hack my time [how do you do it?] so I can effectively focus on the one thing I am currently doing at a time. I just finished my Anki reviews, I did ok, and that's great, however, part of the time I was worried I am neglecting other projects I have.

I can really relate to what your wrote here. I also find it very hard to get my mind off something I'm seriously into at some particular moment.

May be you could try a high school approach. Plan a small list of 'classes' or even pick just one major focus for each day of the week, so those things don't compete for your attention at the very same time. Set amount of hours you give to each if it's more than 1 thing. You'll end up craving more when your time runs up but isn't it great this way? It leaves you hungry for next time and that's just so much better than taking too much and burning out.

Also consider finding moments in your day when you could combine doing something you want with doing something you need. I have Japanese grammar book at the kitchen for example. Every time I'm waiting for something to cook, I pick it up and read some. I would have trouble doing webdev over the frying pan, so I don't feel guilty at all, enjoy it greatly and try to take as much as possible in the short time I have. Same with anki reviews. When my back starts hurting from all the sitting in front of the computer, I take my ipad and walk around the apartment or lay down with it. It feels like I'm having rest, not betraying some other activity I consider important at the moment. These 2 things alone give me a certain amount of guilt-free time with Japanese every day even when I can't go into it with all I have due to being busy with other things.

Reading a book or watching Japanese drama could be scheduled for 1 hour before sleep for example. Doing things like programming or web design right before going to bed is a bad idea anyway since they leave a lot of processes running in your head making it harder to fall asleep. Morning time could also be allocated to some particular activity.

The idea here is that you need to know what to do at some particular moment, not to be choosing what to do, because when you have to choose, something you are most interested in at the moment always wins.

bucaran Wrote:however I need to learn to hack my time [how do you do it?] so I can effectively focus on the one thing I am currently doing at a time.

http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=7799

iAurora Wrote:The idea here is that you need to know what to do at some particular moment, not to be choosing what to do, because when you have to choose, something you are most interested in at the moment always wins.

Exactly, simple but brilliantly accurate, thank you very much for sharing your thoughts, I have a better perspective now.