Pair a head task with a body task

How to multi-task well

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to pair a head task and a body task.
If you are trying to maximize your efficiency, this lets

(00:25):
you do mental and physical work at the same time.
Call it a nice form of multitasking. One of the
rare forms that actually works. Today's tip comes from Kristin,
known to her myriad blog readers as the Frugal Girl.
When I interviewed Kristin for this podcast a few months ago,

(00:49):
she described some of the productivity strategies she used to
make it through nursing school, all while maintaining an active
blog and parenting too. N One was to pair a
head task with a body task. Kristin explained that she
would listen to content about nursing while doing physical life

(01:10):
maintenance tasks. So, for instance, she might listen to a
chapter of an audio textbook or a nursing podcast while
folding clothes, prepping dinner, or cleaning. Pairing a head task
with a body task is a great idea if you
are a student who needs to get through a lot
of content, but it can work for other people too.

(01:31):
Lots of verbal experiences can be successfully paired with physical
experiences without really losing capacity for either. During a camera's
off conference call for work, for instance, you might be
able to fold clothes. You could chat with a friend
on the phone while going for a walk. You could
listen to a podcast while going for a run. You

(01:54):
could listen to an audiobook while reading your garden. In
deciding what tasks, to be sure that the physical task
is quiet if anyone will be able to hear you.
You probably don't want to be on a call with
a friend while putting away dishes, for instance, if there's
going to be a lot of clanging. You also want
to be sure the physical task has low to no

(02:16):
cognitive demands. If you are on an intense work call,
you don't want to suddenly look up and realize that
you have chopped way more onion than you meant to.
Even swapping out your summer and fall clothes has more
cognitive demand than might work for listening to, let's say
an audio version of a textbook. You don't want to

(02:37):
miss out on something that will be on a quiz
because you're deliberating over whether you will actually wear your
white jeans into the fall. In any case, it's well
known that most multitasking doesn't work. Trying to answer emails
while you are on a conference call means you are
not listening to that call. Now maybe that doesn't really matter,

(02:59):
but then why are you on the call in the
first place. Better to bow out and give your full
attention to the emails. As for texting while driving, this
can also result in things going very badly, But in
many cases, pairing a head task with a body task
has actual benefits. Some people listen better when their hands

(03:24):
are just occupied enough to keep them from fidgeting. Listening
to something interesting can make exercise more interesting, and if
it's something you have to listen to, that multitasking might
make it possible to exercise in a way that wouldn't
be possible if that time wasn't available. So try to

(03:45):
pair head tasks with body tasks and you just might
find life feeling a little more efficient. After all, Kristen
finished nursing school with a four point zero, so that
is a pretty good testimonial for her method. I'd love
to hear your experiences if you pair head tasks and
body tasks. What are the particular tasks and pairing strategies

(04:08):
at work for you. You can reach me at Laura at
Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

(04:33):
got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at
Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a
production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

(04:55):
your favorite shows.