Jessica- Task Management

As finals approach, managing my time and my assignments is becoming extremely overwhelming. It can be very hard for me to find a good place to study and do my work. When I try to study in my apartment, I'm always distracted by my roommates, the television, and I'm always temped to just lie down in my bed instead of doing my work. I decided analyze the many study environments I have on campus to figure out where the best place for me to study is. Throughout the semester, I'd been studying in the Goldstein study room, but now that finals are approaching, Goldstein is becoming more of a social scene than a study room. Every time I go there I'm distracted by friends I bump into and the people I see. I realize I need to find a study place where I can be all alone with no noise or distractions. After filling out the Studying Environment chart, I found that the basement of Bird Library is where I got the most productive work done. The cubicles in the basement prove to be the perfect place for me to avoid distractions and be alone to get what I needed done.

I've also been using my planner a lot more I had been earlier in the semester. I write everything in my planner, and break down the studying and reading I need to do each day up until my finals. My planner is much more packed with dates and assignments than ever before. Throughout the semester, I didn't take full advantage of how helpful a planner can be. I often just tried to remember a lot of my assignments, which was not always productive. By writing specific things I have to do everyday, I avoid forgetting any assignments. Using a planner is also helpful in breaking down my work. For example, in my planner I wrote a specific amount of pages I have to read everyday, for my EDU 310 book, which I have a paper to write due December 17th. On the days I have less work written down in my planner, I read more pages. This is definitely the most productive strategy I've used in CLS thus far. I wish I had taken more advantage of my planner throughout the semester. I would have been much more productive in many of my classes. I look forward to using my planner more next semester.

Task Management

We are down to the last two (2) weeks of the first semester and everyone has a lot of tasks that need to be completed before the leave for Christmas Break. I can speak for myself and say that I am totally confused about where to begin. Therefore, I decided to organize myself by using some task management strategies that would hopefully get myself on track. Among studying, writing papers, and finding relaxation time, I have many little time-consuming tasks that need to be completed as well. The first task management strategy that I decided to use was the Post-it Reminders strategy because I feel like it would be easy to just fill out a post-it and stick it to my bulletin board whenever I remember a task that needs to be done. Then, as I complete a task, I can just rip the post-it off the board and know that I have accomplished something. As the post-its become less and less, I will know that I am making progress. I used this strategy for all my courses because I have something due within the next two weeks for them all. This was an effective strategy indeed.

The second strategy I tried out was a weekly calendar using iCal on my Apple Mac laptop. I entered all the due dates of assignments, and put in a couple tasks that I need to do that are non academic as well. This way, I can effectively see what I need to do as the due date is approaching on the calendar and take action.

Task Management

Task management is something that is very helpful and productive. I would write down all of my assignments. After having everything on paper, i would then re-order my assignments in order of hardest/longest to complete. By doing this I am finding that my more important assignments are getting done on time. It is also helpful for me because I am now not saving all my work up for the night before but rather doing about 20 minutes on each assignment a night. By ordering my assignments, my work is really looking better. I will continue to my work using this learning strategy for the rest of my life.

Stress management& Task Management.

When I have to do a lot of work I will be stressed and this will not make me do my work efficiently. I used two strategies to help me, which are Stress-O-Meter and 10- Minute Vacation.

Ten minutes vacation was efficient but I got easily distracted and spent a lot of time on the break than the work I was supposed to do. However, Stress-o-Meter helped me because when I saw that I am not stressed all the time, I will be stressed if I had homework or had a lot of work to do.

I did not know that I was not stressed because I used several Task Managements strategies to help me through my classes. I work on my hardest coursed and assignments first then do what is easier to me. In addition to the first plan I used DIVIDE BY FOUR I have a paper due I write an out line then a first draft and so on. I also use POST-IT Reminders to all my finals and assignments on my phone.

Stressmanagement

Stress is a huge part of college. Keeping stress levels low can be very difficult. For me, I feel most stressed when I leave my work to last minute. When I have an exam, I try to begin planning at least a week before. If I try to study the night or two before the exam, I don't know any of the information with not nearly enough time to learn it all. Not being fully prepared causes me so much stress. Being stressed effects my whole life. When I'm stressed I can't eat or less or focus at all. I used the Stress-Ometer to work out my weekly stress. I found that my my stressful days are Tuesdays and Thursdays, when my I have the most classes, Monday and Wednesday are a little less stressful because I only have 1 class those days, and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are the least stressful. This would be a great strategy to use at the beginning of the semester, so I can make a schedule of which days are my homework days. This way I can spread my work out and not feel overwhelmed by homework on certain days. I can spread my work out and get all my work done on the days that are least stressful. Had I made this at the beginning of the semester, I could have made a schedule to get all my homework done on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, when I only have one or two classes. For next semester, I definitely plan on using the Stress-Ometer next semester, with my new schedule.

Using my planner, and making priority lists can also be a great way for me to avoid leaving my work to the last minute. I made a list of things for each class that I still have to do from now to the end of the semester. I printed out two copies and put them in places I would where I would always see them, and constantly be reminded of what I have to do. I posted one on my bulletin board next to my bed, and the other in my planner.  This way, I could check them off when I finish them, and not leave any of the assignments to the last minute. 

Overall, I found that making a list of priorities to be the most effect way for me to avoid stress. I helps me avoid forgetting my assignments and from leaving assignments to the last minute. For the future, I will definitely use this strategy. It's rewarding for me to check the assignments off after I did them in advanced, rather than worrying about getting it done the night before its due!

Stressmanagement

Stress is a huge part of college. Keeping stress levels low can be very difficult. For me, I feel most stressed when I leave my work to last minute. When I have an exam, I try to begin planning at least a week before. If I try to study the night or two before the exam, I don't know any of the information with not nearly enough time to learn it all. Not being fully prepared causes me so much stress. Being stressed effects my whole life. When I'm stressed I can't eat or less or focus at all. I used the Stress-Ometer to work out my weekly stress. I found that my my stressful days are Tuesdays and Thursdays, when my I have the most classes, Monday and Wednesday are a little less stressful because I only have 1 class those days, and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are the least stressful. This would be a great strategy to use at the beginning of the semester, so I can make a schedule of which days are my homework days. This way I can spread my work out and not feel overwhelmed by homework on certain days. I can spread my work out and get all my work done on the days that are least stressful. Had I made this at the beginning of the semester, I could have made a schedule to get all my homework done on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, when I only have one or two classes. For next semester, I definitely plan on using the Stress-Ometer next semester, with my new schedule.

Using my planner, and making priority lists can also be a great way for me to avoid leaving my work to the last minute. I made a list of things for each class that I still have to do from now to the end of the semester. I printed out two copies and put them in places I would where I would always see them, and constantly be reminded of what I have to do. I posted one on my bulletin board next to my bed, and the other in my planner.  This way, I could check them off when I finish them, and not leave any of the assignments to the last minute. 

Overall, I found that making a list of priorities to be the most effect way for me to avoid stress. I helps me avoid forgetting my assignments and from leaving assignments to the last minute. For the future, I will definitely use this strategy. It's rewarding for me to check the assignments off after I did them in advanced, rather than worrying about getting it done the night before its due!

Stress Management

I complain about being stressed very often because I am not accustomed to being in college yet. I have to learn how to adjust myself and my time so that I can complete assignments in a reasonable time. This week, I used the 10-minute Vacation strategy in all my courses to try and get away from doing my Physics homework. This strategy did not help me much because I would tend to go over the allotted 10 minutes because something interesting would catch my attention and I would lose track of time. I could not force myself to get away from Facebook at all.

In addition to the 10-minute Vacation, I tried the A Day at A Time strategy to help myself realize what things stress me out the most in a days worth of tasks. Then, I would cross off the tasks that I have gotten out of the way so I can then see how much free-time I can allow myself to have in order to release stress. This strategy is effective for all my classes because I got to see the visual of tasks I need done.