Me on Multitasking

Greetings!

I have irresponsibly abandoned my blog for two months.

Surely one will find this excuse overused, but I'm busy. I'm not kidding though, I really am. I'll have you know that I am writing my second book. (See, gap year students are not without activities)

Here I am about to go on yet another ramble about life skills, qualified or not. :)

A month ago, I decided I had to get back on my laptop and stop killing zombies on another computer, where my brother's stash of snacks are at reach. So, I decided to put on hold my trilogy project and work on a single, sequel-free book for now. I also challenged myself to finish it in one month. The rule was simple - a chapter a day. Surprisingly it's going really well, with only one more chapter to go! :D

I am a student in my gap year, therefore I find it crucial that I learn to manage my time properly. Of course, nothing is ever easy at first. But there is always hope, and clouds have silver linings. Feel free to come up with any other saying that elaborate on the existence of hope.

So, anyway, today blog post is about the vital life skill of multitasking.

In the workforce or school (maybe just life in general), people expect you to be everything they want you to be. They will want you to do many things at once, but will not want you to be so frizzed out you go for sick leave and trouble them. Thus, they will want you to be a multitasking humanoid.

Nobody is born with it. It is an acquired skill, perfected through years and years of practice, self-motivation through guilt, and numerous guilt-inducing snack bars.

There are various kinds of multitasking. Allow me to show you three of the more prominent forms. (Note: Difficulty decreases with number)

1. The Good Kind of Multitasking

What parents expect their hardworking children to do. The utilisation of a laptop as a learning tool is shown. In this form of multitasking, one is expected to take notes, search the Internet for information, memorise facts, and cover as many subjects as possible within a short time frame.

If possible, they want you to do your homework while studying for that test you have tomorrow. For that you'd need to possess a multiprocessor brain, of course.


2. The Bad Kind of Multitasking

You have never been a student if you've never found yourself attending to your studies while fulfilling a guilty pleasure of yours. Chocolate, iPods, and the like. Lots of students have been made to believe that reading fiction stories is a form of studying. It is true, but it's more about the classics. Ones that can really contribute to the expansion of your vocabulary, and not so much the chick-lit novels that probably populate a significant space on your bookshelf. (Kei and Chel?)

3. The Kind of Multitasking You Wish You Could Do But Can't
 

Let the pictures speak for themselves. 

In my alma mater, a fairly common sight was to see my friends read novels under their desks as the teacher rabbles on about the subject. This also falls into this category. Sadly we cannot enjoy an exciting book and absorb information from the teacher at the same time.

If only our minds could be engineered to enable the third category. Imagine how much more efficient and lovely life would be ;)

So which ones have you ever found yourself doing? If you can do what classifies as the third, you are a BOSS.

Obviously, numero uno is what people expect you to do. By doing so you are less likely to fail, because if you do two things or more at once, if one goes wrong or is unacceptable you have another one ready. Now that you know what you must do to please, you have no excuse to fail in life.

So yeah, um...good luck with that. Becoming a never-failing multitasking humanoid, I mean. It's rather tough. A lot of people out there know. It's not just me.

Buuut...it's not impossible. Just keep those distractions away. If your human brain ever fails you, consider upgrading it with some high-end mechanical features. I know I have thought so many times.

アリシア

Now listening: Boys Don't Cry - The Cure (don't ask me how I got from watching SP to this dark wave song from the 80's)

This post was made in collaboration with my old Sec 3 books.