Productivity: Multi-tasking vs Single-tasking

I have never really liked the term multi-tasking.  I have never been able to do multiple things at one time successfully.  I often listen to audio books as I am cleaning, sometimes when I am planning, and mostly when I am cross-stitching but I often tune out the audio book and focus on the actual job that I am working on, causing me to miss large chunks of the story.  I can have multiple activities on the go, but I focus on each one at a time.  So basically, switching from one activity to the next and back again, but not really doing two or more things at once.  On the flip-side, single-tasking is hard for me to do too.  I often will have my phone near by when I am planning, writing a paper, or working on a project just so that I can take breaks.  I will go on social media, text people, and generally look up answers to random questions that pop into my mind. In the video for today's post, James Hamblin talks about how easy it is to get side tracked when working on a project and end up with multiple tabs open some time later and finding out that you really didn't accomplish much.  I think that it is so easy to get 'lost' in the internet or on social media and not realize it.  It definitely affects a persons productivity level.  

One tool that I have used in the past is Planbook.  It does have a yearly fee; however, I found it to be minimal and worth the cost at the time.  I'm am unsure if the fee has increased since II have last used this tool.  There was also a discount to subscribing for multiple years. I loved it for planning for a few reasons: 1. I could see my week laid out in front of me, 2. I could plan from anywhere and on any device, and 3. I could share my plans with a substitute teacher or my admin if I was away from school.  I especially loved that I could colour code my classes/subjects!  Once I knew how to set up my classes/times I found it to be an efficient tool.  At the time that I was using Planbook, it worked perfectly for 5-day schedules.  Once my school changed to a 6-day schedule, it became a less productive tool for me.  It took more time for me to set up my classes as I had to recreate each week instead of rolling it over.  I found that using a pencil and paper planning book was much more efficient.  The downsides to a pencil and paper planning book is that: 1. it's pencil and paper, and 2. it's a physical book that I carry around.  I have since heard that Planbook does have a 6-day schedule now and I may have to revisit it to determine if it will be a valuable tool once again. 

Each new productivity tool does have a learning curve, some minimal, others not.  With a little research and exploration a person can determine the pros and cons of using it and if it really will improve the task or the amount of time spent on the task.