keeping on task
how to keep on task? | Jake Kimball | August 26th, 2002
These days I'm finding I can't manage my time effectively. I had almost an entire day free yesterday and I got sidetracked investigating dialectology. Here's a very interesting site on pronunciation if that's your cup of tea.
Somehow I feel like I wasted my time because I was supposed to start drafting an IIC paper. I did learn a bit and it was satisfying but I made no progress on IIC and later in the night I just did some reading on discourse analysis. I'm motivated but just off task.
How do you keep on task? Do you find it difficult to keep to one item on your things to do list?
Jake
Re: how to keep on task? | Jerry Talandis Jr. | August 26th, 2002
Hi Jake,
Another interesting topic! I think I'll take time out from writing up my TYL assignment to answer it! :-)
For me, staying on topic is all about developing mindfulness. That's the art of being aware of what you are doing while you are doing it. It's like being involved in the act of doing something and simultaneously standing outside yourself, observing dispassionately. It's a real hard thing to learn. People spend lifetimes developing this capacity. Still, the good part is that any efforts you make pay immediate dividends, kind of like exercising does. It's basically exercising and disciplining your mind.
There are a billion and one methods and approaches to developing clarity of mind and mental discipline. Pick your favorite one. You don't have to go to India to find this clarity, either. Just pay attention when you do things everyday, such as wash the dishes or clean laundry. Instead of pondering what you are going to write on your next assignment, concentrate on doing a real good job hanging the laundry. Then move purposely to the next thing. Try to avoid punishing yourself with guilt for not doing everything. It's really impossible to do everything you want to. To see this is true, make an actual list on paper sometime of all the things you have and want to do. Then have a good laugh at the absurdity of ever getting all that stuff done! Hopefully, this can help refocus your mind to the present moment and allow you to accomplish more of your goals.
Anyway, just some thoughts I've been thinking about lately, as I have all the same problems you do!
Good luck!
Jerry
Re: how to keep on task? | David Heywood | August 26th, 2002
Hi Jake & Jerry,
I find this interesting, too. I'm rarely happy with my own time management, though I will invariably get things done just before a deadline arrives.
Back when I was an undergraduate, I studied a management course and they talked about Parkinson's Law, which has always stuck in my mind. It is something like 'The amount of work to do expands to fill the time available'.
Jake, it sounds like your work is expanding when you say you are getting sidetracked. If you had to finish IIC by next week, I'm sure you wouldn't have spent a day investigating dialectology. From this angle, it all seems quite normal behaviour.
One possible problem (though also a possible strength) with this course is the lack of real deadlines, since you can always put the submission of an assignment off for a few months. There is an open invitation to be lazy for a while, which can be difficult to pull out of (this obviously doesn't apply to you Jake, you sound very motivated.) On the other hand, for the motivated learner these flexible deadlines can frustrate, since there will be this vast array of interesting topics you'll have to ignore to get that assignment done. In both instances there is a need for discipline.
Jerry's comments on mindfulness were interesting in that respect, though if I learn to stand outside myself and dispassionately observe my wasting of yet another evening in front of the telly and realise how pathetic I am... Joking aside, it is something I have been thinking about recently, also. At the risk of going off topic, though it is still about awareness, has anyone had experience of the Alexander technique?
David
Re: how to keep on task? | Maria Leeham | August 26th, 2002
Dear Jake, Jerry, David and others,
Hang in there! I think we all suffer from this. I agree that this is a strength and drawback of this course. The self-imposed deadlines in FND help. Maybe breaking these down into more manageable parts is also useful. I'm a list-maker so I tend to write down the stages to assignment-production. Plus the diary helps- when I think I've not done anything all month I review the diary and remind myself of what I've read/ thought about- it makes me feel that I have actually done something useful.
A friend of mine has just decided to drop out of a DL Open University course because she HAS to do a certain amount a week (16 hours) and can't keep up- at least we can take a break and return without the whole thing falling apart.
Best wishes,
Maria Leedham
And a PS: I always give myself Wed evening and all day Sunday work-free, plus of course Sat night. This doesn't mean I study all the other evenings but these ones I don't feel at all guilty!
Re: how to keep on task? | Raymond Sheehan | August 27th, 2002
If you have the kind of mind that likes to explore various avenues rather than stick to the same track, then it might be a good idea to have several modules on the go at the same time. I'm working on the maximum load of three at the moment, and while I'm spending most of my time on CSD (having set myself a target of having a complete draft ready by the last day of August, with all the supporting docs/appendices in place), I'm also enjoying departing from CSD into IIC, developing a clearer view of what my assignment will be; however, anytime I start wandering down unrelated paths for the sheer pleasure of it, I have it in the back of my mind that I still don't know what I'm doing for my MAP assignment, so the exploration of other territories may have some purpose. And if at times it doesn't have any purpose beyond satisfying my curiosity, that's OK too!
And as has been pointed out, those days we have when we go off track are probably totally normal. The important thing is not to be too negatively self-critical but to look at overall performance: if we are generally meeting our own set targets and keeping up the momentum, then the occasional loss of a day or a week or a month is hardly a problem (I did absolutely nothing Aston-related for the last two months and I feel all the better for it!). If, however, there is a chronic inability to deliver any assignment within a reasonable amount of time (and I get the impression that anybody who's contributing to this list doesn't have such a problem), then it's probably a case for the tutor to deal with in a counseling role.
I think staying on track does mean working to a timeline of sorts:
• Getting to grips with the module units and articles (how many hours?)
• Doing some supplementary reading in a narrower area once a possible area of interest opens up
• Checking availability of other resources (books available locally, on Amazon...)
• Drafting a proposal and sending to tutor. Modifying proposal.
• Writing a primitive first draft, so that there is something to work on, edit, expand, delete
• Continuing narrow-focused reading
• Writing a draft fit for submission. Editing, rewriting, checking references....
I find each of these stages can fit into a tight timeline (although the reading is obviously ongoing, but weighted more heavily at the earlier discovery stages and much lighter during the writing stages when you're chasing a reference to lend amplitude and authority to a specific point you're making. I regard the feedback on my proposal as a kind of peak in the middle. Once I get that, I get a very clear idea of pitfalls, areas for further investigation, and above all an endorsement that I'm on the right track for an assignment topic. And the feedback has been unfailingly detailed and speedy. It adds a huge impetus and brings the whole project within realistic, manageable bounds. Then the end is more clearly in sight.
In the end, of course, the timeline is an ideal and the FND module is the only one where I managed to adhere to it strictly. But I think the important thing is to have one so that even if you deviate from it, at least you know what you're deviating from and what you should be coming back to. Most of us have made timelines for the whole course and even renewed our commitment to that timeline on an annual basis. But I think making a micro- timeline for the stages of each module is also important.
Raymond
UAE
Re: how to keep on task? | Jerry Talandis Jr. | August 31st, 2002
Hi David,
This is Jerry. Sort of a delayed response, but school has just started...
Anyway, I wanted to comment about your mention of "Parkinson's Law." I've long thought the same thing. I should have written up my thoughts and gotten credit for it! :-)
I've found that law to be very true, and it's not just for time management stuff. I find it applies towards financial matters as well.
For example, after college I worked at a job making about 8,000 pounds/year. Not too much. Of course my life was pay-check to pay-check. "If only I had more money," I thought. Now my wife and I make roughly 10 times that, yet we are still tight. You'd think that more money less worries, but it's not always true. Now we have a mortgage to pay, a baby boy to support, two cars, etc. Our expenses have expanded to fill the available income, as Parkinson's Law would dictate. To beat the law, you have to really be conscious of what you are doing and have some discipline. But, as the song goes, "I fought the law, but the law won." Oh well. Such is life.
To Maria,
I like your idea about giving yourself certain days of the week when you can relax, guilt-free. I think guilt is a powerful de-motivator. I'm constantly fighting against it. I guess a mature approach would allow you to avoid its build up. I'll have to see if I can manage it!
To Raymond,
Your advice about time management was real good. I also liked how you kept the previous messages. I'm going to save this discussion. It could come in real handy for new comers.
Take care!
Jerry
David Heywood
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