Task Strategies!

Divide By Four

How do you use it?

This can be used on projects, exam preparation, long readings and more. You split an assignment into four parts and try to accomplish each task one at a time. First you prepare for the assignment. Second you begin the assignment at a different time. Third you will continue the assignment at a later date. Finally you finish the project. If you spread these steps out over time it makes it harder to procrastinate!

How did I use it?

I took my two most important assignments and planned them in parts. I took my Phi 107 five page paper and the remaining work I have in REL 120. The first step I chose for writing my paper was choosing a chapter to write about and underlining important parts of the chapter. The second step was writing pages one to three. The third was writing pages four and five. The last step includes proof reading and revising the paper. For religion my first step was to finish reading a novel. The point of the novel was to compare it to two chapters that we have read in Nye, so my second step was to reread these chapters. The third step I took was analyzing and comparing Nye to the novel. The last step includes the study guide that my professor gave me of certain points between the two readings, therefore I will study these points in preparation for the final.

Since I am a visual learner, I always choose to make lists and charts of things I need to do, therefore I made a list for each of the assignments that I based Divide By Four on.

A Day at a Time!

How do you use it?

Write a list of up to five sources or stress. Try to focus on each stress causer. Cross out each source once it no longer causing stress. Leave each unsolved source on the list for the next day or days, until it is all solved.

How did I use it?

I chose my top five sources which include Finals for CFS 388, MAT 222 and REL 120, Phi 107 paper, GPA, Getting a job and parents. I wrote these down at the beginning of the week in a list, then by the end of the week I had substantially limited my list. I solved my stress for finals by using the twenty minute test prep for each of the three classes. I began my Philosophy paper, even though I had a few weeks to write it, it just gave me less to worry about. I will always be stressed about my GPA no matter what I do, so as of now, I still have that on my list. I sent out plenty of job applications and have heard back from a few, therefore that lowered my stress in that area. I also called my parents and talked to them about how busy my week was ahead of time so I wouldn’t get any further stress from them and it is always a good way to vent about the week ahead. As of now I still have stress in the area of GPA, but the rest of the stress has been reduced from my life.

Since I am a visual learner, it helps to see the charts and lists drawn out. It is also easy to concentrate on things when a chart shows which is considered he most stressful. This makes it easiest to pick which cause of stress to work on first.

Motivation!

Motivation!

What motivates you? What makes you put in the effort to achieve things?

I have never really had much trouble trying to motivate myself to do school work. I am quite lazy and sometimes would prefer to sit on my bed and watch television, but I am sure that this could be said for many people. I may not spend an excessive amount of time on assignments, but I will never skip assignments intentionally or simply not prepare for an exam. I consider myself to be a highly motivated student. I am process-driven in the aspects of organization and study preparation, optimistic, and persistent. I am not too much of a risk taker and I do put in a valid effort to the standards of my ability.

What is an external motivator? It is something other than yourself that motives you.

What is an internal motivator? A motivation that gives you a sense of accomplishment. It would be doing a task for your own personal gain.

What can cause motivation? A consequence or a reward is a good reason to have motivation. If something is very undesirable, most people would give their best effort to be sure it does not happen. For example, I would fail my math class if I don’t get an A on the next exam, the consequence would be my motivation. A reward would be when I was young I got 5 dollars per A on my report card. The reward would be 5 dollars. If someone desires a result, they will usually make sure that it is reached. Simple things can cause such motivation, which causes some to try much harder in school and life.

When I was younger I got good grades because my parents wanted me to and I would get restricted from fun activities if my grades were poor, so I have always found them to be important. I am personally motivated to attend college because I am hoping to pursue a goal for knowledge. I have not chosen a major yet, but I desire to gain as much knowledge as I can about my area of study and help others with the knowledge that I have. I am motivated for internal as well as external reasons. My motivation is simply reward, which could be determined in the future as a goal. I plan to work in either the social sciences, psychology or business. I hope to be able to help others with my work so my motivation is the people’s lives that I can affect and help.

I am motivated for different reasons in each of my classes. Some classes my motivation is to attain a high average, fulfill requirements, personal happiness and to pass a required class. In CLS 105 I am trying to use this class to teach me the skills to raise the grades in my other classes, as well as to get a good grade in the class in order to raise my GPA. I would like a high GPA to be able to get into any major that I desire without difficulty. For CFS 388, I am interested in this area of study so my motivation is to see if this class is something I would be interested in pursuing, which is an internal motivation. MAT 222 is my hardest class and I am doing terribly. I need to pass this class with a decent grade so that I won’t haveto retake it, in hopes of keeping my GPA from being pulled down. I strongly dislike PHI 107, so I will use this to keep my grades up for my GPA and fulfill a requirement. REL 120 is interested but is also motivated by keeping my GPA up at this point. Ski Team is one of my PED classes which I enjoy and I only use it for personal satisfaction. I don’t necessarily desire to be the best skier on the team, but I do enjoy the sport. I am motivated to get a good grade by simply having fun! I am very motivated in my schoolwork and can find many reasons to be motivated for any task.

Acronyms.

Have you ever used Acronyms?

Have you ever used Acronyms? They are a great way to remember things! If you haven’t tried it, you really should, because it works wonders!

How do you use it?

It is easy! Just make a list of the terms you need to remember, then underline or circle the first letter of each word. Try to arrange these into a word or something you will remember! This is easiest for memorizing things that there are many of and are only one word.

How did I use it?

I used this method in my CFS 388 and my Rel 120 class. This is a great method for me because I am a visual and aural learner. I put the terms in an order that makes the most sense, then I read them out loud until I fully memorized them. This is helpful for the visual aspect because I can picture the terms and the underlined letters in the future. It is also helpful because I read them out loud so this helps the aural aspect. I couldn’t figure out an actual word to fit with the letters I had underlined, so I made one up, but I certainly won’t forget it!

TART!

TART!

How Do You Use It?

First I read the Terms and definitions that I find in the chapter. I set aside the terms I think are important and will be useful in the future. Then I Attend class and take notes as usual, but I pay particular attention to the words I set aside. Then I read my notes from class to make sure I fully understand what we went over. Next I Read the chapter to expand the knowledge I already have. I find this to be helpful because I need some previous knowledge, then it becomes easier to associate new thoughts with topics I already understand. The final step is creating Test questions. I made questions I thought may be on the next exam and answered them so that I can continue studying them.

How Did I Use It?

I used this strategy in my Human Sexuality class and my Religion 120 class. I made a list of the terms that were bold in my Human Sexuality book, then I simply went to class and listened for them. I read over the concepts in the book that expanded on what I heard in my lecture. I made some exam prep questions that I thought would be helpful for the terms I learned. I also used this method in my Religion 120 class, although there were not as many definitions there. I used this method for both and have found that it covers all areas of learning, for example I am an aural learner and a visual learning and I found this method to be very effective.

By the time that the class was over, I was able to define all of the terms I found previously and did so, to help with future studying. I don’t know if defining the words was necessarily a requirement for this method, but I found it to be helpful and a good visual way to study in the future. I found when we used the

Plug In Notes last week, that tying things out really helps me since I am a visual learning. Since I found this to be helpful, I typed up this weeks notes as well.

Ranking Priorities

Ranking Priorities!

Do you ever feel so overwhelmed by your work that you end up just avoiding all of your assignments all-together? Do you ever waste time wondering what you should do first? Do you ever do all other assignments and save the huge dreaded project for two in the morning the day it is due? I do. I often spend a long period of time just playing on my computer because I can’t choose an assignment to begin with. Sometimes I forget that I have assignments due the next day, and accidently do long term projects instead and forget things that are more necessary, and end up staying up later to complete them. It is also hard on nights when I have so much work to complete, to choose where to begin.

I have other activities and things I need to keep up with that aren’t class related, considering I am a member of Syracuse University Ski Team and Danceworks. It is hard to balance these activities, but using this method and “D’s Due and Due,” I manage to keep everything straight.

I started by listing my classes in priority order. So I took my REL 120, CLS 105 and MAT 222 classes and put them in order of importance, for what order I should do them in. I picked a specific color for each class to make it easy to read. Then I put them into the days that I should do them on. I put those in order of what is most important and should be done first. I also added tasks I need to do for clubs and campus activities that were important. I would recommend this method for others because it really helps to be able to see all of the tasks I must complete that evening, so I need to budget my time in order to get all of these things done. I used colors on mine as just a fun way to keep things straight visually, but I think it helped, so I would recommend this to others also.

This method keeps me on track and kept me from procrastinating. I spent a night this week at the library until six in the morning and this was helpful, because I did only the most important tasks and left the least important for another time, rather than not having time to complete the most important things.

D's Due and Do

D's Due and Do

I am blogging about the topic “D’s Due and Do.” I have used this in all of my classes as well as to remind myself what I need to do daily even when it isn’t regarding my classes. I used this strategy in CLS, MAT 222, REL 120, CFS 388 and PHI 107. I already used this method to some extent before this class, but now I just added the words “due” and “do,” but it was already very similar. I found that by adding these words it became easier to understand my schedule and what I should plan on doing when. I prefer not to split my schedule with a line, I simply prefer to write them out plainly on the date, because I will read them all anyways and I find it easier to read. I also put all of the major due dates into my monthly calendar at the beginning of my schedule in to be sure that I do not miss any assignments.

Above there is a picture of my weekly schedule.

This strategy has not failed me yet. I find it very useful and I honestly intend to continue using it throughout my college experience. I have always been very organized and used my schedule already, so this small step should not be a hassle and should be more helpful than the method I was using before. I chose this strategy because I basically already used it, I just made a couple little tweaks to the way I wrote things down.

It is very important to be organized; “D’s due and do” is a very easy method and takes only a few minutes to set up. It can save me from forgetting little things I may previously have forgotten. This is my favorite method so far, I know it isn’t a method for actually doing the work, but if I don’t know I need to do an assignment, those other methods will never come into effect. I would recommend that everyone give this method a try! I am sure it will continue to be useful from that point on.

Below there is pictures of my monthly schedules.