Divid By 4 is the Way to Go

using the divid by 4 technique really helps you mange the task you have to get done. I know for me doing this made me get my work done. well I can't say it made me get my work done but it made me more organized and reminded me i needed to get it done. I used the strategy for my college learning skills class and it gave me reminders that I still need to get done. and I went away this weekend so the reminders helped me a lot to get this done. I will definitely be using this strategy again its a fin and easy way to get things done not just homework.    

LIKES: what i liked about this strategy was that you can get things done even if your on vacation for a little. like all the distractions that occurred this weekend didn't really phase me because i still got everything done.

DISLIKES: nothing to hate aboit strategy, only thing is i feel its very similar to the target planner jist a different way to do it.

Do a little TASK MANAGEMENT by hitting your TARGET and DIVIDING BY FOUR!!

OMG!!! I am just a week and a half from finals, but first I got a few papers to write. I am usually good with task management, but this time because it's combined with my regular assignments, out of class work, and my exam preparation time. With these kinds of problems, I am using two strategies that are helping me to finish my papers on time before this Thursday.

Target Planner

There's that famous game of hitting a target. Well this time, it's making your own target by using dates and plans to finish the assignments on time. I used this strategy for my SPA 301 paper, and this allows me to divide the final paper into various parts with dates, all leading up to the due date this Thursday. What I do with this planner is putting it on the wall, which allows me as a visual learner to look at what I have left and when I am supposed to work on a specific task for that assignment.




Divide by Four

Although this strategy is somewhat similar to the Target Planner, it is also useful to manage your task management. This strategy helps you prepare, start, continue, and finish your assignment in the four different ways that I just mentioned. I also used this strategy for my SPA 301 paper and it has helped me divide the task and put specific notes on what I should do for my assignments like preparing introductions and making a bibliography on a certain date.







A little secret...

There is one very good thing about both these strategies, and is that it allows you to CHUNK THE TASK. This allows you to divide the assignment into different parts and do them on a very specific time. That way I don't have to cram one all-nighter working on a paper that I haven't started yet. This is a third strategy that can be put inside into the ones I just mentioned and used. Isn't that great?

My Thoughts

I really, REALLY have nothing negative to say about these strategies. They all worked for me and it can be applied to any course. If you are having a lot of final papers to do, then these strategies are for you. I can say that using these strategies has helped me to save time and sleep more earlier because I knew how to divide my task effectively. I hope this works for you and good luck on finals!!!

Managing your task the EASY WAY !

Are you the type of person who panics when you are given a HUGE assignment that is impossible to do within a day ? Don't know how to manage your assignments ? Tired of wasting your time and leaving your school work for the last minute ? Fed up with PROCRASTINATION? It's all about managing your time the best way possible ! Here's how you can learn how to sit your butt down on a chair and get your act together instead of procrastinating.

How to manage your assignments ?

These are the top strategies that I have learned to follow in order to be successful with managing my assignments.

• First off, you have to work on your hardest course first or the hardest assignment. Why ? Hard courses require a lot of your attention span and concentration, that's why they should be done first. You are more alert when you begin something and your attention span is at it's best.
• Second, divide your assignments into small parts so you can lead your attention span into a guide of hard to easy work. For example, time your self on how long it takes for you to do a reading assignments. Break it down into small pieces so let's say it takes you an 1 hour to read a article for homework. Then chunk it down and read 10 min., break, 10 min. again. See ? Very simple.
• Thirdly, you can alternate other things during your study time. For example, while working on your "hard course project", set a side another task you have to do but that's easier. That way you can switch every so often so it can maintain your concentration.
• Fourth, list your assignments by due dates so in that way you can force yourself to get them accomplish early. The early due dates should have the highest priority assignments.

Divide by 4
One strategy that I have been using lately is the divide by four. Each week i have an assignment for Sociology and it's basically a paper that i have to write every week based on the readings we are assigned to read. Personally, I don't like to read so i would leave everything till the last minute and when the last day would come to give in a certain assignment, i would skim and basically write whatever i thought the article was about. Using divide by far helped me management my assignment. So how did i use divide by four ? When using this strategy, you basically have to remember these 4 concept. Prepare, start, continue and finish.

1.Prepare- I read the article that was assigned from my sociology class, and then i brainstormed idea's what i could write about. How was i going to write it ?

2.Start- I started brainstorming ideas and created an outline.

3.Continue - I wrote the paper, incorporating the main questions that my professors wanted to answer.

4.Finish- I revised it and gave it. Lately i have been getting 10/10 on my papers !

Likes
What i liked about this strategy is that it helped me break down the assignments and i actually learned what i read about instead of skimming which was no good. I also liked how i set little deadlines, like "okay, I'm going to start this on Monday, write the paper 0n Wednesday, and give it in on Friday. It's easy as one, two, three and it's an effective strategy. It's not even time consuming. I even did some of my Spanish homework while the article was started to become more dense because i was loosing focus on how hard it was to understand it. But then i kept switching back and forth, maintaining my concentration and my attention span.

Dislikes
None.

When in Doubt Divide & Use Post-Its!

Can you believe that the semester is coming to an end? I can't. Where has the time gone? In a few short weeks the spring semester will be over. Yay!! Since the semester is almost over it is especially important that everyone continue to use the Task Management Skills that we learned at the beginning of CLS 105. Task management is important for several different reasons. If you are managing your tasks efficiently then you will have time to get all of your assignments done on time so that you will not have to pull all nighters to complete assignments. This week I used the Divide by Four and Post-It Reminder task management skills to help me with finishing my last project for WRT 205 for which I have to make a trailer.

I learned about the Divide by Four strategy at the beginning of the year and I have been using it in my classes during this semester. To use this strategy all you have to do is take an assignment and divide into 4 easier parts. As you can see below I divide my WRT 205 project into four smaller parts so the project is not as hard for me to complete.

Divide by 4 Strategy for WRT 205

The second strategy I used was the Post-It reminder strategy. This strategy is really simple and everyone can do it all you need is post-its. For this strategy you use post-its to organize all the assignments/task that you need to complete. You can use different colored post-its to represent how urgent the assignments are or another way you can use this strategy is to use color coding for a week that tasks need to be accomplished.

Post-It Strategy

Both of these strategies have worked well me this semester by keeping me organized so I will definitely continue to use these strategies to help with my management skills. One reason that I liked these strategies is because I am a linear and visual learner. The divide by four strategy worked well for me because I am a linear learner so information has to be presented to me in a list or sequenced way so that I can understand it which is exactly what this strategy does. The Post-Its strategy helped me alot because I am a visual learner so by using post it notes I am always able to see what assignments I need to finish. As you can see in my pictures I put post-it notes on my desk and on my computer screen so that I always see them and know which tasks need to be completed. I also liked how the divide by four strategy helped me to break down my trailer project in WRT 205 into smaller chunks because when I first heard about the assignment I was overwhelmed by the amount of things that I had to do for this project but the divide by four strategy helped me to see that the project was not as much work as I had originally thought it was. Another good thing about both of these strategies is that they are not time consuming to do, these strategies only take a few minutes of your time. So you should definitely try using both of these strategies because they will both benefit you by keeping you organized.

I hope you the Divide by Four and Post-It strategy will work wonders for you as it has for me this semester. As long as you keep up with your tasks and stay organized you will have no problems completing your end of the semester projects and finals. Good luck with your final exams and do not forget to about all of the strategies that we have learned in CLS 105 this semester.

A Cigarette a Day Keeps the Stress Away

I have many gray hairs. I got my first when I was five years old. Now I know that this is a hereditary trait of mine because I have several relatives from my mother's side that have grayed early. But most of the time, when people ask, I just tell them that architecture is taking its toll on me, and my grays are due to the stress.

Looking at the strategies we learned this week for dealing with this stress, I found that most of them were ineffective and inconsequential. Five-Minute Escape? Really? Like we needed a book to tell us that sometimes we need to sigh. And yes, I did try it, even though I felt rather foolish doing it. And maybe it was due partly to the stress I was dealing with, or maybe it was the fact that my eyes were closed, or maybe it was both of these things, but rocking my head back and forth made me nauseous and my work seem a little more daunting. So you know how I dealt with my stress? I smoked a delicious, wacky-tobacky cancer stick. That's right folks, just a good ol' fashion nicotine high and I was feeling MUCH better.

As for the other stress management methods in the text, getting your priorities straight is good n' all. I wrote out a list each morning for three mornings. (Found it stressful to try and remember to write the list when I was going to be late for class, just a side note.)

And as for the Stress Reduction Plan, I found that a lot of the things mentioned, I already do. Going to the gym when I find the time is a great way to deal with stress, because when one is at the gym, one concentrates only on exercising and the music from his/her iPod (or Zune if one is a weenie). And one feels much better about him/herself when leaving the gym all flustered and worn out. I personally love to get massaged when I'm feeling stressed, or just whenever. Often I'll study with my girlfriend and she always scratches my head when I get overwhelmed, and I of course would do the same.

But an entire "Plan" on this stuff? A simpler way to describe the "Stress Reduction Plan" would just be: "Do some of the stuff you do when you aren't working." It's more a list of interests that a person may or may not have.

But when the day is done, I find that a cigarette and a cup of tea do wonders for managing my stress. Simple as that.

Ways To Reduce Stress

        Their are many ways to reduce stress. methods all over the world get used everyday to chill people out when they've had a long day at work or something. I rarely get stressed out, the only time I usually get really stressed out is when I have a huge tests coming up. i get stressed over tests because I don't get the best of grades but I try to do as best as I can. To do that I have to go to my tutors and study instead of doing other fun things.

      

          I used a the ten minute vacation the first time when asked to use a strategy for stress and that strategy proved to be useful as well the one I used this time. This time I used the Stress-O-Meter I liked this one because it made me think of all the possible things that I could do to avoid all the things that caused me stress at that particular point in time. I was able to maintain my good mood throughout the day and it made practicing a lot easier. It also helped me out with doing homework to. I used to be mad about doing my home work and it would take me longer to do it but im over that. Now I just think about what im going to do after im done with I all. There's nothing I can really say about it that I didn't like, everything comes into perspective for me when I use this strategy. 


          I definitely will continue to use these strategies that I've learned in this class im sure they will be beneficial somewhere down the road and knowing how to reduce stress is the first step to living a healthy life. 

    

Don't even STRESS it !

Stress in General Are you going through any of the symptoms from the diagram above ? Everybody must have went through these symptoms due to a lot of stress. Many stressors can alter a person's life. A decrease in exam grades, loss of eating, poorly attending classes, losing interests in activities, avoiding deadlines etc. This can occur in many college students lives. Stress, who doesn't have it ?

Most college student goes through a huge amount of stress throughout their semester depending on what courses they are taking. When I was a high school student, i didn't understand the meaning of stress..until i got into college. I never been out on my own and i thought that i could handle everything but it took me a while to realize that sometimes i need to breath. But i feel like that's what life's about. Having stress. You just have to learn how to avoid it or deal with it. How? It's all about managing your stress and controlling your reactions to your current situations that makes you want to avoid it. Once you change your reaction to the stressful situation by doing things that you enjoy, it can reduce the stress.

This is how i dealt with my stress maybe it will work for you

In the beginning of my freshman year, the transition was really sudden for me. I didn't know how to balance out my classes, social life and my personal life as well. This semester has a bit of stress for me. My CLS 105 class has helped me see what kind of strategies i can use to avoid stress. What i learned was three important things to stress management; CAUSE, RELAX, ORGANIZE. You have to find out what the cause of the stress is so basically you identify. After you find your stressors, you take a break from it and relax. After you are done taking a break from the stress, go back to it and organize in a different way. In class, i learned about the stress reduction strategies and tried two of them. But first, i used the strategy that helped me identify which are the stressors in my life.

Stress diagram

This strategy helps you visually see what are the stressors in your life and how much of it stresses you by making a diagram. You first write out your list of stress by prioritizing them and then make a diagram. This helps you identify what it the most stress in your life or which is the least. When i wrote down my list of sources i just thought of everything in general that i don't even like doing or handling the situation because i know it's just going to frustrate me and stress me. What's stressing me right now is the finals because i know i have to give in a Global Event Log by the last day of class and i got a Sociology paper/exam for the last day as well. So in general, paper and projects are the most thing that i am concerned about and should address first !

Stress Reduction Plan

I love this strategy so much ! why ? because it allows me to relax of course. What you need to do is make a list on what you enjoy doing a lot or what makes you forget about your problems. It's okay to take a breather. This plan can help you control your stress if you have a huge amount of it. It can be a part of your daily routine or even your weekly routine. For my daily routine for my stress, i would go on facebook and just look at people's pretty pictures and it helps me smile and forget about my stress. So let's say i have to start on that WGS global event log, i could start on it every weekend and just do things to take my mind off it in case i feel tensed from it. I would also talk to a friend about my problems and what i am stressing about whether it's personal stuff or finacial things. I remember i was stressing about not having enough money for next year and i asked my friend for a lunch date at bubble tea because my mom has been bugging me about taking out loans and looking for scholarships. i was having a good time with my friend and then i decided to tell her about my situation and she recommended a program for people struggling finacially. It was good that i actually talk to her and she offered a possible solution in reducing my stress !

Another stradegy that relates to this is...

10 minute vacation

For this stradegy, it's more for people that are doing project or doing a work that requires a long specific amount of time to do. 10 minute can allow you to get away from all that stress of work. YES ! only 10 minutes though. You can go to "vacation spots" like YOUTUBE or ADDICTIVEGAMES.COM etc. Anything that you want to get your mind off and enjoy doing will allow you to release some of that stress away. I would go on youtube and watch and listen to cool music video! One video that i have been attached to watch and listen to is " Her morning Elegance by Oren Lavie".

Conclusion

Honestly i have been doing these things everyday ! i know i cant just keep working and not breath a while. I need to do things that i enjoy or I'll just having those symptoms of the diagram above. i dont think anybody wants that. Everybody has stress, you just have learn how to react to it and not go crazy !