Divide by 4

Have you ever had trouble managing a task? I'm sure you have, because it has happened to us all. At the end of the day, when looking back at an assignment I have completed, sometimes I think to myself "Man, I could have done that better!" Well, I now can say goodbye to those days, because the divide by four strategy is one that works great. It helps you break down (or chunk) the task into four simple aspects to complete the assignment.

In the divide by four strategy, you take your task and split it up into four sections. The first section is prepare, the second is start, third is continue, and fourth is to finish the assignment. You can break down any assignment whether it is a paper, project, or even maybe a test.

For me personally, I used the divide by four strategy for my PHI 107 paper. I divided the assignment into four aspects, which you can see in the picture. Breaking down the assignment into four parts made it much easier to go about completing my paper. I wasn't overwhelmed just thinking I had one big paper to do, because I always knew the next step that I needed to complete to write a good paper. The divide by four strategy also helps me avoid procrastination, because this strategy prevent me from sitting down and doing the whole assignment all night right before it is due. And, I think I wrote a very good paper using this strategy.

I am a Kinsethetic and Visual learner, so for me seeing a peice of paper that was telling me how to split up and go about my paper was great. I saw what I had to do, and I did it. I am also a reading / writing learner so writing down how I was going to split up my paper assignment was also helpful.

I highly recommend this strategy for anyone, especially those who feel overwhelmed when having to complete a large assignment. This strategy is also good for procrastinators who think it's OK to do things all in one shot. Trust me, it's way better to avoid procrastination and use this strategy!

Get yourself a clean slate, don't procrastinate!

We all have heard the term procrastinate throughout our education many times in our lives. Procrastinating, or waiting until the last minute to do something, is usually an unsuccesfull way to go about doing your work or studying for tests. Often, procrastinating can lead to late, tired, and frustrating nights. It is not good for your health.

I have to admit that I am probably one of the worst procrastinators there is. I have started papers at 1 am in the morning, and the paper is due in that class at 11 that morning, and I will stay up all night trying to finish it. I have done this multiple times. Thanks to C.L.S. I have realized it is time to change my ways. The strategy I have used to do this is REWARDS. The rewards strategy is great for me because If I procrastinate, I will never get my reward, and I usually reallly want that reward. For example take a look at the image to see how I use this strategy.

As you can see I have a sociology paper due, and my reward for getting it done is watching the Knicks game. For me, this strategy works extremely well because I consider myself one of the biggest Knicks fans around. I never miss a game. If i do not get my essay done, I will have to miss the game, as hard as it may be for me. So, this really motivates me to not procrastinate, and get my essay done sooner so I can watch the game. Also, I will get a good nights sleep because I will not be up all night, which is healthier for my body then what I was previously doing. This is important because as someone wise once said "your body is your temple."

Luckily for me, I got my essay done in time to watch the Knicks game, and then I got a good night sleep. The reward strategy worked great for me. I am a visual and kinesthetic learner, and this strategy worked great for me because I had written down what I needed to do and saw it next to me, and completed my essay, even though I feel as if this strategy should work for any type of learner you are.

I hope I helped you out if you suffer from severe procrastination like I used to. It is important however to make sure your rewards are severe enough that if you do not get them, it will bother you, because this will make sure you do not procrastinate. Once again I hope I helped, and GOOD LUCK AVOIDING PROCRASTINATION!

Procrastination

Procrastination is a huge problem that most people have. When you are trying to avoid doing something you will procrastinate and do other tasks first to put off the assignment. The strategy I used to help me with my procrastination was time wasters. I chose this skill because I am a Kinesthetic learner and I was able to make a chart and see what I had to do. This can also work for visual learners.

Time wasters is a way to look at what yo

ur time waster is and the task you are avoiding so you can draw conclusions about what things are making you waste your time. You can use this for any assignment in any course.

I used time wasters for my WGS 203 project and studying for my ECN 203 quiz. What I did was make a chart that on the left column said Time Waster and on the right column said Avoided Task(s). I then went through and wrote out all of the time wasters for my WGS project like going on facebook, talking on the phone, and watching TV. In the next column under Avoided Task I listed out reading the WGS article, typing the essay, studying for econ. I then tried to draw conclusions and realized the reason I was not completing my WGS project was because I was not sure what to do and was not fully clear on the directions. For ECN I realized I was not studying because I was anxious about the qui

z and did not know where to start.

This helped me realize why I was procrastinating and made me take the necessary steps to do the work. I isolated myself from the things that were distracting me and got the help necessary to complete these tasks.

Time wasters is a great strategy for everyone who has problems with procrastination because it will help you get your work done!

Time Management: Using the target planner and Fritter Finder

As you can see I have used the Fritter Finder and Target Planner for my time management strategies. Since I am a procrastinator I found the target planner extremely helpful because when you follow it there is no chance of you having to cram everything the night before. Getting things done when the target planner said can save you a lot of headaches. The fritter finder made me realize that I do have a lot of time during the day to get things done and do what I want. Both time management strategies are helpful, and for other procrastinators like myself I highly recommend using the Target Planner.