1. Setting Effective Goals and Making the Most of Your Time Chapter 3

2. 3 | 2 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Questions to Consider What does the research say about goals and success in college? Does having a goal lead to better grades? Make it more likely that you will stay in college? How can you know if you are on track with your goals? Does multitasking work?

3. 3 | 3 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Questions to Consider How can you make more time for academic tasks? When you have several assignments, what should you do first? If you are a procrastinator, how can you change this habit? Do you focus on the past, present, or future? Is this linked to success?

4. 3 | 4 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Morisano, Hirsch, Peterson, Pilh, & Shore (2010) Research Question: Does a goal setting intervention help students stay in college and perform better academically? iQoncept/Shutterstock.com

5. 3 | 5 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. The Study 85 college students who were struggling academically Goal setting intervention (2 ½ hours) Generic intervention GPA, Survey questions about withdrawal rates and emotions

6. 3 | 6 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. The Findings GPA higher for goal group (2.91) as compared to general intervention (2.25) Goal group less likely to drop classes Goal group had fewer negative emotions

7. 3 | 7 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. The So What Factor Effective goal setting is linked to college success Worth investment of time to learn how to set effective goals

8. 3 | 8 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Creating Effective Goals Specific and Measurable Challenging yet Realistic

9. 3 | 9 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Long and Short Term Goals Long Term Goals Take time, 6 months or more Example: Graduate from college with a 3.0 GPA Short Term Goals Targeting short period of time Specific and detailed Example: Earn a 85% or higher on the sociology presentation next week.

10. 3 | 10 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Monitoring Progress: Establish a Timeline See figure 3.1 in Chapter 3 of Student Success in College: Doing What Works!

11. 3 | 11 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Self-regulation Check up on yourself Monitor progress made thus far Make adjustments as needed Mike McDonald/Shutterstock.com

12. 3 | 12 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Time Management See Your Time summary box in Chapter 3 of Student Success in College: Doing What Works!

13. 3 | 13 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Time Traps Activities that take up a lot of your time To reduce time spent on time traps: Raise awareness Self-impose time limits Use fun time traps as rewards for must-do activities 1000 Words/Shutterstock.com

14. 3 | 14 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Multi-tasking Multi-tasking is when we switch back and forth between tasks Many of us engage in multi-tasking, but it doesnt work well Students who instant messaged while reading took 22-59% longer to read, not including IM time (Bowman et al., 2010) David Davis/Shutterstock.com

15. 3 | 15 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Single Task It! See Single-Task It Strategies in Chapter 3 of Student Success in College: Doing What Works! Stop

16. 3 | 16 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. George, Dixon, Stansal, Gelb, & Pheri (2008) Time diary and questionnaire assessment of factors associated with academic and personal success among university undergraduates.

17. 3 | 17 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. The Study 231 undergraduate students completed questionnaires Goals; time management, intelligence, self- esteem, healthy diet, spirituality GPA; Personally defined success

18. 3 | 18 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. The Findings Two most powerful predictors of success: Clearly defined goals and effective time management Successful students spent more time studying, woke up earlier in the morning, and spent less time on fun activities Other factors connected to success: eating healthy, having a computer, high level of spirituality

19. 3 | 19 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. The So What Factor! Creating effective goals is important Managing time well is important –Devote more time to studying –Decrease time spent on time traps –Consider getting up earlier in the morning

20. 3 | 20 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Benefits of a Time Log or Diary Visually captures how you currently spend your time so you can see where improvements are needed Identify time traps Knowing how long tasks, particularly academic ones, take can help you plan better Look for consistency with your goals Sample Time Log Monday 8:30 a.m. Woke up, showered 9:00 a.m. Ate breakfast, watched TV 9:30 a.m. Drove to school 10:15 a.m.Arrived on campus, hung out in College Center 11:00 a.m. Class 12:30 p.m. Talked on phone 1:30 p.m. Lunch with friends 2:30 p.m.Went to library to study, Read and took notes on pages 112- 129 4:30 p.m. Did math homework problems 1-4 5:15 p.m.Drove home 6:00 p.m. Computer/internet 7:00 p.m.Dinner with family 7:45 p.m. Computer/internet 9:00 p.m.Read notes from todays psychology lecture 9:15 p.m.Watched TV 11:30 p.m. Went to bed

21. 3 | 21 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Reading Time See Time for action 3.4 in Chapter 3 of Student Success in College: Doing What Works!

22. 3 | 22 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. To Do Lists Not so effective Do research paper for psychology Read textbook for history Study for biology exam Effective Go to library and locate at least 5 sources for research paper Write an outline for psychology research paper Read and take notes on pages 55-75 in history text Create flashcards with terms for biology exam Complete practice quiz on the biology support site

23. 3 | 23 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Organizational Tools See Table 3.2 in Chapter 3 of Student Success in College: Doing What Works!

24. 3 | 24 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Prioritizing Tasks Refer to your syllabus –Nature of assignment –Due date –How much it counts Task difficulty –Work on easy material if you have less than 1 hour –Start on difficult material if you have more time

25. 3 | 25 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Taking Action and Avoiding Procrastination 1.Spaced practice- do a little bit each day 2.Convert big assignments into smaller more manageable ones 3.Reward yourself HomeStudio/Shutterstock.com

26. 3 | 26 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Time Perspective Past, present, and future time perspectives Future is most connected to academic success –Practice delaying gratification –Keep long term goals visible –Find connections between actions today and future consequences

27. 3 | 27 Copyright 2013 Harrington © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Time and Your College Schedule Consider the demands on your time Think about being full time- students who take more courses are often more successful Consider course difficulty Avoid too many courses on the same day Tom Peterson, Middlesex County College