Research_Strategy

Research Strategy Paper: Time Management and Procrastination Aaliyah Gray University of Phoenix There are many times in an individual’s lifetime that he or she may come up against a hindrance of some sort. Each individual has his or her own obstacle in which he or she must learn to rise above whether it is procrastination, time management, or the inability to focus. These three obstacles (procrastination, time management, and the ability to focus) are obstacles in which I must learn to prevail. Out of the three of these obstacles the one that would be most beneficial to surmount would be time management. If an individual is able to conquer time management then, the other two obstacles (procrastination and the ability to focus) should become easier to overcome as well. The ability to manage appropriately one’s time seems like an easy task; however, this task does require one to know the definition of time management as well as learn self discipline. The best way to overcome any obstacle would be to identify the problem, become informed about the problem, and develop a solution that fits appropriately. I cannot efficiently and correctly manage my time as well as I have a habit of procrastinating. If I were able to overcome both of these obstacles I may improve my productivity greatly. “Time management refers to a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects and goals. This set encompasses a wide scope of activities, and these include planning, allocating, setting goals, delegation, analysis of time spent, monitoring, organizing, scheduling, and prioritizing. Initially time management referred to just business or work activities, but eventually the term broadened to include personal activities as well. A time management system is a designed combination of processes, tools and techniques” (Wikipedia, 1st para., 2010). “Procrastination refers to the counterproductive deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite such behavior as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. There are three criteria for a behavior to be classified as procrastination: it must be counterproductive, needless, and delaying. Procrastination may result in stress, a sense of guilt and crisis, severe loss of personal productivity, as well as societal disapproval for not meeting responsibilities or commitments. These feelings combined may promote further procrastination. While it is regarded as normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological disorder” (Wikipedia, 1st para., 2010). Obstacles can be overcome with knowledge of the problem, motive, discipline as well as the desire to change or correct the problem with the correct knowledge and tools. Some individuals work better under pressure, and as a result of the fact that the performance initially is more productive under pressure the individual may begin to form a habit of procrastinating. Once the habit of procrastinating is formed and appears to be manageable it sometimes starts the carving for more of a challenge until things have become so stressful, overwhelming, or too much of a work load on top of the every day situations such as work, school, and parenting that the productivity is noticeably decreased and even depleted. Procrastination and not being able to properly manage time can cause more problems because the worry and stress of that uncompleted task and its approaching deadline eventually starts to run over into other day- to- day activities and starts to effect the productivity of those activities as well. Once even interfere with free time or the individual’s desire to even want to participate and complete the task (Carter, Bishop, & Kravits, 2007). One of the biggest reasons for an individual to procrastinate is because of exhaustion. For example, if an individual is a full-time employee, wife, mother, and a full-time student as well the schedule may be very stressful from the beginning especially if time management was not used to its full potential. Given this example it would be easy for the individual to feel as though from time to time a break may be necessary or he or she may even reach the burned out mode. Here is where list and prioritizing (tools of time management) can help cut back on the amount of procrastination used as well as the individual just burning out or giving up. Once an individual starts to stop managing his or her time appropriately it becomes very difficult for that individual to pull him or her back on track. These problems can be addressed and corrected and cut out if the motivation to fix the problem is present. Creating list or a schedule in which an individual’s day- to- day task are laid-out can help that individual use his or her time more appropriately instead of poorly. There are a good number of advised methods that can be found on the Internet or in the library that can offer suggestions in how to overcome procrastination as well suggestions on how to best manage or use time properly. For example, “Task lists are often tiered. The simplest tiered system includes a general to-do list (or task-holding file) to record all the tasks the person needs to accomplish, and a daily to-do list which is created each day by transferring tasks from the general to-do list. Task lists are often prioritized: An early advocate of "ABC" prioritization was Alan Lakein. In his system "A" items were the most important ("A-1" the most important within that group), "B" next most important, "C" least important. A particular method of applying the ABC method assigns "A" to tasks to be done within a day, "B" a week, and "C" a month. To prioritize a daily task list, one either records the tasks in the order of highest priority, or assigns them a number after they are listed ("1" for highest priority, "2" for second highest priority, etc.) which indicates in which order to execute the tasks. The latter method is generally faster, allowing the tasks to be recorded more quickly” (Lakein, 2007). Another suggestion may be to make an agenda or schedule in which the individual places due dates or times for each task needing to be completed and then assigned a time slot prior to those dates or times to work on those tasks. Once this new habit is created and started, then it is hoped, it will over ride all other elements as well as make eliminate procrastination and make completing task easy. Information can be found in many places concerning all perspective of both procrastination and time management. For example, there was a good article on time management found in the University of Phoenix library titled “ Is it time well spent' The relationship between time management behaviours, perceived effectiveness and work-related morale and distress in a university context” By authors Hugh Kerns and Maria Gardiner. Information also can be found in the local library and on the Internet. If using the University of Phoenix library than there is the option to select information that has already been review by other peers to help ensure how correct the information may or not be. When using the Internet an individual may want to use web sites that end in .org or .edu as well as compare several articles from online to see just how relatively correct the information may be. Despite the method that one wishes to use he or she should be very clear about the information that he or she is searching; for example: how to overcome procrastination or how to appropriate manage one’s time. Again it is very important to use reliable sources and to check the references to ensure that the information provided is valid and credible. After all the information is gathered than the best solution on how to handle the problem of procrastination and poorly managing one’s time can be decided. It is believed that the best solution would be to develop a schedule of some sort, whether it is daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly and prioritize the schedule in order of importance. It also helps to ensure that the schedule is present at all times and followed at all times for this solution to be successful. Overall, with a plan set in motion these obstacles can be overcome and the stress levels as well as workloads will more than likely decrease and leisure time and the well-being of the individual are likely to increase. References Carter, C., Bishop, J., and Kravits, S. (2007). Keys to college studying: Becoming an active thinker (2nd edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Lakein, Alan (1973). How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life.. New York: P.H. Wyden. ISBN 0451134303 Kerns, H.; Gardiner, M. (2007). Is it time well spent' The relationship between time management behaviors, perceived effectiveness and work-related morale and distress in a University context._ _Higher Education Research & Development Vol. 26, No. 2, June 2007, pp. 235–24. Retrieved April 24, 2010, from http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer'vid=3&hid=3&sid=3088d888-52c2-40be-9166-9c91c6d084cf%40sessionmgr10 Wikipedia.(2010). Lakein, Alan (1973). How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life.. New York: P.H. Wyden. ISBN 0451134303. Retrieved April 24, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_management Wikipedia. (2010). Procrastination. The definition of procrastination. Retrieved April 24, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procrastination Wikipedia. (2010). Time Management. The definition of time management. Retrieved April 24, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_management