According to the video, what is a potential downside of always prioritizing the most important task first?

It can become a quadratic-time algorithm, where the time spent prioritizing increases disproportionately as the number of tasks grows, potentially leading to a meltdown.

What is 'interrupt coalescing,' and how can it be applied to improve personal time management?

Interrupt coalescing is grouping interruptions together and dealing with them at set intervals rather than immediately. For personal time management, this means checking emails or notifications at specific times (e.g., once an hour) instead of responding to each one as it arrives.

The video mentions a 'fundamental tradeoff between productivity and responsiveness.' Explain this tradeoff and provide an example of how you might balance these two factors in your own life.

The tradeoff is that maximizing productivity requires minimizing interruptions and focusing on tasks, while maximizing responsiveness means reacting to new information or requests immediately. To balance them, I might set aside specific blocks of time for focused work with notifications turned off, and other blocks of time for responding to emails and messages.

Time and Priority Management

10th GradeHealth30 min

Learning Objective

I can develop strategies for managing my time and priorities effectively.

Lesson Flow

Watch Video

6 min

How to manage your time more effectively (according to machines) - Brian Christian

TED-Ed

Guided Notes

6 min

Key concepts students will learn:

•
NASA's Pathfinder spacecraft experienced a bug in its scheduler, causing it to prioritize tasks incorrectly and halt transmissions.
•
Prioritizing tasks using a quadratic-time algorithm, such as constantly ranking emails by importance, can lead to inefficiency because the work increases quadratically with the amount of tasks.
•
To manage interruptions effectively, consider using a technique called interrupt coalescing, which involves grouping interruptions together and addressing them at fixed intervals to minimize context switching and improve focus.

Practice

10 min

3 questions • Short answer

Exit Ticket

5 min

“Explain two strategies, based on the video, that can help you manage your time and priorities more effectively. Be sure to explain why each strategy is effective, based on the computer science principles discussed.”

Teacher Guide

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Time and Priority Management

Learning Objective

Lesson Flow

Watch Video

Guided Notes

Practice

Exit Ticket

Teacher Guide

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