Term planning, Procrastination Reduction, & Prioritization - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Term planning, Procrastination Reduction, & Prioritization

Failing to keep a to-do list 1. Not setting personal goals 2. Not prioritizing 3. Failing to manage distractions 4. Procrastination 5. Taking on too much 6. Thriving on “busy” 7. Multitasking 8. Not taking breaks 9. 10. Ineffectively scheduling tasks

SMARTO GOAL METHOD  S – SPECIFIC  M – MEASURABLE  A – ATTAINABLE  R – REALISTIC/ROUSING  T – TIME-BOUND  O – ORIENTED TO DESIRE

Urgent Not Urgent I II IMPORTANT GOALS CRITICAL ACTIVITIES Important Crises, Pressing Problems, Preparation, Prevention, Deadline-driven projects Values Clarification, Relationship Building III IV INTERRUPTIONS DISTRACTIONS Not Important Interruptions, Some e-mail/ Trivial, Busywork, Some messages, Pressing matters messages, Time Wasters, Excessive TV/ Internet

 Write all tasks on a sheet of paper.  Tasks should take no more than 1-2 hours to complete.  Assign priorities (A = very important; F = not important).  Assess Prioritization Matrix and decided which quadrant each tasks goes in (1 – 4).  Create categories for specific tasks such as “tests,” “clinicals,” “home,” “projects.”  Miracle question : “If I woke up tomorrow with one thing done, what would it be?”  What tasks holds the greatest percentage of your stress??

 Pay rent for next month – 3  Pick up groceries – 3  Write paper, due in two  Check Email – 3/4 weeks - 2  Clinicals Friday – 2  Test tomorrow – 1  Call mom – 2  End of semester project – 2  Clean house – 3  Make cookies for community group – 3

 SCHOOL:  HOME:  Write paper, due in two  Pay rent for next month – 3 weeks - 2  Go to bank  Outline - 2  Get money order  Literature Search - 2  Pick up groceries – 3  References - 2  Make list  Test tomorrow – 1  Tegrity - 1  SOCIAL:  Review notes - 1  Check email – 4  Study Group - 1  Answer most important  End of semester project – 2 first - 3  Review requirements - 2  Call mom – 2  Start outline - 1  Text and figure out good  Discuss project with instructor - 1 time to talk  Make cookies for community group – 3  CLINICALS  Grocery shopping  Clinicals Friday – 2  Making list  Wash scrubs tonight - 1  Find recipe  Complete paperwork - 2  Talk to preceptor - 1

Term Planning 1. Weekly Planning 2. Daily Planning 3.

 A strategy to look at the entire semester at one time.  Use your syllabi  Big picture tasks - not all the details, just the MAIN TASKS  Helps you to know how to trouble-shoot difficult weeks.  Allows you to assign a specific amount of time for each task  EX: Tests = 15 hours; Clinicals =12 hours etc.

 MOST IMPORTANT DATES  Activities  Personal and academic tasks  Projects  Tests  Clinicals  Papers  Organizations/meetings  Quizzes  NOTICE OVERLAPS

 Includes major priorities for the week  Academic, social, personal, occupational – all categories  Utilize a “to - do” list for the week.  Assign priorities to each task  What can you reasonably accomplish in one hour?  Create blocks of time. Use term-plan to create weekly plans.  Write in a planner, on your phone, or google calendar.  Keep in mind the best times, places, and environments to complete each task

 Remember SMARTO goal-setting method!!!  Be reasonable!!  What can you actually accomplish today?  Includes: class, work, study, relationships, exercise, relaxation, fun, chores, family, housework  BE FLEXIBLE! Allow time in your schedule for unexpected activities.  Whatever you don’t finish, move to the next day.  Constantly re-evaluate your tasks and assign new priorities.

 Maximize the time you spend on your more important goals.  Minimize the time you spend on your less important goals.  Make a schedule that works for you.  Study a little every day.

 Keep your schedule realistic  Remember SMARTO goal-setting  Know yourself and be creative with your own scheduling.  Set boundaries!  Don’t over - commit and learn to tell others, “No.”  Be assertive.  Reorganize. Be Flexible and allow for trade-offs.

 Delaying or postponing a task that needs to be done.  Carrying out less urgent tasks rather than urgent ones.  Distractors!  What are your most common distractors???  Coping strategy – Avoidance!

 Procrastinators: Overestimate the time they have left to perform tasks. 1. Underestimate the time it takes to complete a task. 2. Overestimate how motivated they will feel the next day, the next week, the next 3. month, especially when putting things off. Mistakenly think that succeeding at a task requires that they feel like doing it. 4. Mistakenly believe that working when “not in the mood” is suboptimal. 5.

 Perfectionism:  Believing you must do it perfectly, afraid to fail, fearing others will do better than you, fearing rejection of others if you fail, continually trying to do more and more  Inappropriate Commitments:  Always saying “yes” to others, accepting extra work when you already have more than you can do, getting too many unimportant activities done first, lacking clear priorities to meet your school and personal goals.  Perception of the job being too big:  Seeing jobs as impossible to accomplish, not being able to determine where to begin on tasks, not knowing how to break large, complex tasks into a set of smaller, more manageable tasks.  Belief that you work better under pressure:  Postponing working until you feel pressured to do it, never even trying to plan ahead to complete tasks, not allotting time for problems

Reinforcement: 1. Reward yourself for a job well done, give yourself the night off from homework, take some time for fun Reminders: 2. Keep a written or electronic schedule, use to-do lists, write notes to yourself Bits and pieces: 3. Break large assignments into small ones, do a little bit at a time Five-minute plan: 4. Plan to work on it for just five minutes, if everything is going well, keep working, if not stop after five minutes and return to it later. Face the music: 5. Make yourself turn off the TV and go sit at your desk, leave the house, go to the library, self- talk, tell yourself it’s time to work on something, rehearse goals, reframe negative thoughts.

 “Becoming a Strategic Learner – LASSI Instructional Modules”  Psychology Today – Procrastination  Mind Tools - Time Management