Hey all you visual learners! I’m back this week with some new strategies that will ensure you use all of your time wisely. The strategies I used for this week were Excuse Busting and Time Wasters. I used both these strategies in my Transmedia studio class, in which we have an animation project due. Since I am a visual learner, I picked these strategies because of their ability to visually show me how I’m procrastinating on work that needs to get done. In my Transmedia class, we are mostly graded on the projects we present; the other grade goes towards our reading responses via email to our professor. To learn my best and be successful, I need to come to class prepared with my projects and or ready to learn. It’s better if I take notes on the lecture because a majority of the information is technical stuff that I wouldn’t remember visually. I also need to read all the texts he supplies us as well as analyzing the material he gives us. The materials I need for the course include: My Lap top, a note pad, the video’s we watch, a pen, our open minds, energy, participation, and any notes that we have taken. These materials will serve me by giving me the tools for success.
The first strategy I used in my Transmedia class was the Excuse Busting Strategy. For this strategy I used the T-chart prepared for me in the “It’s All About Choices” book. The left hand side of the T-chart is titled “Excuse”, this is where I wrote down several excuses I’ve used for not working on my animation project. On the right hand side title “Translation”, this is where I wrote the real reason why I couldn’t work on the project, across from the excuse I used for it. For example, under Excuse I wrote, “I can’t do my project, I did a lot of work and I’m too tired.” Across from this under Translation I wrote, “I don’t know how to use the software”, which is the real reason I didn’t feel like working on it. I found this chart to be very effective in visually showing me why I make excuses for procrastinating on my projects, and the real reasons why I do it. This chart proved not only effect, but also eye opening. I didn’t realize how much time I was wasting doing completely irrelevant things, when I could have been more productive, teaching myself the software, working on editing, or finding video’s to use in the project. I really feel like a change is necessary in my habits now after reviewing the Excuse Busting chart. I originally chose this strategy because I thought it would be a visual way to show me what my bad habits were, and help guide me towards a more efficient way to deal with my assignments, rather than procrastinating on them.
The Second strategy I used in my Transmedia class was Time Wasters. This strategy allows me to visually see how I spend the time I could be using to work on my project, is wasted on doing unproductive things. For the Time Wasters, I used the T-chart provided for me by Dr. Blumin in the textbook “It’s All About Choices”. On the left hand side of the T-chart titled “Time Waster”, I wrote down all the random things I would do instead of actually working on the assignments I needed to complete. For example, I wrote “Piano Playing”, which is something I do a lot when I’m stressed out with too much work to do. On the right hand side titled “Avoided Task(s)”, I wrote “Editing Composition”, which would be the animation project I need to work on. Instead of working on my animation project, I spent my time watching a movie with some friends. This was probably not the best thing to do when the project was due Friday. After writing down a couple more Time Wasters, I began to notice a trend, whenever I have a stressful or project I need to complete, instead of doing the project, I do things completely unrelated to the project that are unproductive and wastes of time. I was shocked to see how all the things that would make me happy, or things I would do in my spare time were things that prevented me from being on task, productive, and completing my project on time. I think this strategy was very effective in visually informing me of the changes I need to make in how I go about completing my work because what I’m doing now is just not good. I originally chose this strategy because it gave me a visual way to look at what I’ve been doing to waste my time, and would inspire me to make a change. I think both the Time Wasters and Excuse Busting strategies are effective and important strategies everyone should try to see how they could manage their time better. Until next time, keep strategizing!
Eric again by bolding important terms and using a variety of different colors, reading your entry is enjoyable and easy to understand.The way you speak to the audience through your writing is also an excellent way to write. Keep up the good work.
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