Motivation and Time Management Update

Here during Week 5, we are focusing on preparing for exams and test anxiety. However, I would like to update and blog about my motivation and time management improvements.

Last week, I listed that I would benefit from switching subjects to stay motivated. I applied this strategy after taking my NAS1510 midterm. I knew that my husband would be off early on Friday and that we would be driving up to our hometown. Our relative's baby was born early, so I wanted to get some pictures for a photo book I plan to make for them. Therefore, instead of taking the rest of the day off last Wednesday, I took a short break, and then switched my focus to our CIS1200 class. I'm happy to write that I finished nearly all of the assignments ahead of time.

Hello world! There's a new lil cousin in town!

I also worked extra hard Thursday and Friday to finishing my reading and notes for the next chapters of my NAS1510 class. By carefully managing my time and staying motivated, I was able to have the rest of the weekend free to visit with family and enjoy a football game at mine and my husband's old high school.

Our hometown high school football team

Better Time Management Skills

Back to Time Management Skills, one thing I honestly admit that I need to work more on.

From http://thorntoncenter.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/time1.jpg

This week I learned a lot about myself from the My Daily Schedule Link. Breaking down my typical weekday helped me to revaluate how I'm spending my time. Right now, I think I'm doing pretty good. I figured that I spend about seven hours doing assignments, reading, and studying for my classes. I credit this to turning over a new leaf and starting my work early in the morning instead of at night. I am naturally a night owl, but with assignments being due around 11pm on Wednesday, it isn't practically to start working after dinner. It's better for me to start work in the morning and have the night free for time with my husband and hobbies.

I have been an assignment calendar creator gal since high school. I don't use a day planner anymore, but I do write my and my husband's assignments on our livingroom calendar. Since beginning this class, I have also discovered the iCal(endar) on my Mac. This has been helpful because I do most of my work on the computer now.

I have also been a "To Do" list gal for a long time. However, I would benefit from making my lists more like the daily Figure 3.4 example in the textbook. In the past, my "To Do" lists have been a little unrealistic, asking too much of myself in one day. Breaking the tasks into study goals and personal goals is a really good idea.

So far, I haven't had a problem staying motivated on a typical weekday. It's on untypical weekends when we visit friends and family three hours away that I fall into trouble. I seem to run into the thinking, "I have to go visit, etc., with so-in-so because I so rarely see them. We can't hang out any other time this month because I live too far away." Which is fine in theory, if I scheduled time to study afterwards on those nights, but I find myself wanting to do other things instead of study. Another problem I have, since I'm still more or less a newlywed, is still feeling like a guest in my in-laws' home. The only rooms I have to study in, while there, are my husband's old room and the livingroom. If my husband is watching tv in his room and my in-laws are watching tv in the livingroom, I feel rude asking them to stop because it is their home. And, unfortunately, there isn't a library nearby that is open at night.

So, right now my strategy is to work ahead as much as I can when I know we are going to visit. I also plan to ask if it would be okay if I bought a desk and set it up in their basement. Having my own desk, in a part of the house that is off to itself would be a quiet area to help motivate me to get work done while visiting.

Onto Time Management Skills

Here during Week 4 we are discussing Time Management Skills.

It's interesting that we've moved to that this week, after my time management skills were challenged over the Labor Day Weekend during Week 3.

I feel some explanation is in order. My husband is a 3rd year medical student, whose awesome time management skills I certainly can learn from. He only has major holidays, one being Labor Day, off. So we planned to drive back to our hometown, which takes about 3 hours. Previous to starting the Shorter Online Program, me and my mother-in-law had planned to give a relative a baby shower on that Monday, September 3rd, Labor Day. However, being as we don't visit often, other relatives also wanted us to go to church with them, have a home-cooked lunch with them, and visit a restaurant for dinner on Sunday. And that was fine. But I also wanted to visit The Decatur Book Festival, another an hour and thirty minutes away from our hometown, to see some of my favorite authors that Saturday.

Author Meg Cabot speaking 09.01.12

It was looking like a very packed weekend. On top of the fact that I still had assignments in our CIS1200 to do and very difficult Chemistry chapters to study in NAS1510.

Although, I was very distracted and my motivation was low because there were so many other things I wanted to do, I am proud to write that I did study a little each night. I knew if I put off doing anything until Tuesday and Wednesday, I would be very stressed out during those days, because I would have to make up for the free time by working non-stop. But everything turned out well.

So, I guess, I realize that another disadvantage of online classes is the fact that there are no true days off, except for breaks in-between the semesters.

From the baby shower I helped host

I'm hoping to learn more about how to better manage my time this week, because I know I will have to balance my time in the future when we visit for Thanksgiving and when our relative's baby is born.

Since I already have a plan of action for typical weekdays, it seems like I need to come up with a strategy for weekends that I'll be away from home.