Procrastination as the Hardest Habit to Break - Essay Example

Final Project For Psych 1730 There are a lot of things that trigger an individual to take a First, the desire to learn new things really makes it worthy to take a class. Second, a lecturer can make an individual become interested in taking a class. Third, the class may be a compulsory unit or may even add up to other classes that have been previously taken. For me, I believe that the classes would be useful in assisting me make a major career decision. In this paper, I desire to stress the above reasons as to why this class was very significant. Choosing a career is a very vital decision that people make in their lives. In my entire college life, there is nothing that challenged me like this issue. In any academic setting, the search for a career stress could be caused by a difficult assignment, the lack of doing the assignment or trying to balance school and life just to name a few. In some instances, I would feel like I was not able to finish some assignments as they proved to be very challenging for me to do. To be able to do the career that I wanted, I have to work hard and decided whether I am going to follow fun or study. This has resulted in a tag of war inside me to fight for what is needed versus what is preferred. Every unit and every class that I was to take had to align with some career that would assist me when I was out there. I did not want to wake up after college and be stuck in a job that didn’t match my personality or even what I studied on. To be honest, this was my worst fear. In addition, I didn’t want to work for long and odd hours without a great pay. Many things as well as events led me opt to become a psychologist in the end. This desire began in my first year when we were studying about individual’s personalities. I was so fascinated by the class that I decided to take a class that would enable me learn more about people’s behavior. I also had to seek for the assistance of our career teacher. It was really scary and confusing at first trying to show the kind of future that I envisioned for myself. The lecturer was a bit patient with me. Honestly, I have never met anyone who had much knowledge and was well connected like that man. From just the physical appearance, one could mistake him from being a snob and cold hearted. But when you come to know him more, you find out that he is one of the kindest men you could ever meet. He really helped me a lot. Procrastination can happened to me because of many reasons. First, I sometimes preferred to be doing another activity like having fun with my friend instead of studying. Other times, I tend to overestimate the time that I would require to finish an assignment. In most instances, one always consoles themselves with the fact that there is more time to do whatever I have been assigned to do. In other instances, I always believe in waiting for the opportune moments when all will be fine for me to work on hat I had been taught. Uncomfortable subjects are also left undone until the day when I feel like I have the strength to do it. For example I dont like talking to people so Ive put off talking to the undeclared counselors concerning what classes I should take next semester. Procrastination is very harmful. This is because time can never be recovered. I have realized that by putting off work that I was supposed to do at a particular time, I reinforce a negative habit that may destroy me and my future career. I had to learn how to keep time and finish work when required so as to develop my character. Life does not care so much and would not like to hear any excuses on many assignments. Hence it was up to me to always ensure that that I gave no excuse for not completing my assignment. I also had no excuse for getting lower grades in class especially because I had to learn how to manage my time. Procrastination is the hardest habit to break. I had to learn how to slowly by slowly break from those crazy habits. Occasionally if the work is just begun then a person can see that maybe it wouldnt be so bad to finish it. Therefore just trying what youve been dreading is a good place to start. Setting up small, relevant tasks could be a big help because then the whole task is not handled at once. Think positively, its best not to think that what is before you is impossible, that just leads to further procrastination. Instead you should think of how it will positively affect life when its completed or worked on. Also with the positive aspect rewards work nicely. A person suffering from procrastination may be able to help themselves out if they give themselves incentives such as when I get this done I can go get a cone of my favorite ice cream. Learning from past mistakes is also a good idea, remembering a time when procrastinating made life hard may help prevent it from happening again. Perhaps, one thing that I had to learn in college was note taking. Like many other students at the university, all of us had different ways of writing our notes. Furthermore, our handwritings were diverse. From my point of view, I believe that how people took notes reflected their personalities. There are various types of strategies on note taking that will assist in note taking. To be honest, I had never been taught or even used the kind of technology that was present in school. For instance, I had never in my life come across Cornell method of note taking. The Cornell method was great for me because I was still able to write down notes like I was used to. It just gave me the opportunity to write a summary and add in possible test questions and what a great help that was. It only takes me an extra five to ten minutes but it allows my brain to think about what notes I just wrote down. It also helps by allowing me to put it into my own words, understand what the material is and predict possible test questions. After converting to the Cornell Method, I have found that the summary is very helpful. When studying for a test, I go through everything in my notes days before the test but the night before all I do is read over the summaries. It is a good strategy for me because I am not cramming by going through all of the material but instead reading the material in a condensed form and in my own words. My worst nightmare was trying to read an entire chapter from a textbook. This has been my greatest impediment during my college years. It is really challenging for me to concentrate when I am studying. Concentration is quite hard especially during cold seasons. It is quite difficult to take into heart the things that have been taught or what I have read. When given a reading assignment, I would do it. I read what I was required to, but I never felt like I remembered much of the material and had a hard time feeling like I had learned anything. It was almost like I needed to hear information to be able to remember it. In this class, we learned how to actively read. What I learned from this portion of the class has helped me so much with the textbook reading that I have been required to do in my target class. Things that I have been doing differently while reading, are: looking at the text, familiarizing myself with the format, being in a quiet place, and making sure I annotate. First, looking at the text and familiarizing myself with the format helps me know what I am looking for and helps me pay attention to the things I feel will be most important. For example, rather than reading the whole text word for word, I go straight to the stories (as each story is usually brought up in the exam), review key terms and make sure to go over theorists and their beliefs. Second, is to make sure that I read in an area where the noise level is to a minimum. I have now learned to do all of my reading up on campus because I now know that it will not get done at the apartment. It is easier to concentrate when it is quiet and there aren’t a lot of distractions around me. Third, to keep my brain running while I read, I have learned to annotate. Picking out the important things not only gives me a great reference for review, but allows my brain to comprehend what I have learned. I totally loved the Psychology 1730 class. I believe that is established to assist students be able to navigate their way through a career that can help them become people. I have come to know that teachers too can gain from the class. It teaches skills that will benefit that class. I feel very happy that I have learnt from the entire class experience of things that I needed to learn. If I had not taken the class, I would have remained in the same level of ignorance. Additionally, the book employed for the class dubbed,’ Effective College Learning’, has very great tips and strategies on psychology. This means that that I can look up later for a further understanding of the subject if required. This course is really worth relearning. Works Cited Dan Pink “RSA Animate-Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us” April 1st 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc Hans Rosling. “HIV:New facts and stunning visual data” February 2009 http://www.gapminder.org/videos/ted-talk-2009-hans-rosling-hiv-facts/ Read More