As you progress through this course learning about motivation, you will likely be considering your own levels of motivation for various tasks, and for the goals you want to achieve. First, I'd like you to consider the following four categories:
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Low Importance |
High Importance |
Low Motivation |
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High Motivation |
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What are some tasks (of low importance and high importance) that you have low and high motivation for? For example, you might have low motivation for cleaning your apartment, but it also, personally, may be of low importance to you, etc. I'd like you to come up with several tasks for each category.
Next, i'd like you to take it to the next level, and consider the following grid:
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Low Importance |
High Importance |
Low Motivation |
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High Motivation |
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For the previous grid you thought about tasks that you do and your level of motivation for them. Now, I'd like you to consider the various goals you have for yourself and reflect on your motivation for them and their level of importance to you.
Describe your experience reflecting on these tasks and goals, your motivation, and their level of importance to you. Has doing this assignment clarified any issues for you? If so, how and in what way?
Tasks of Low Motivation and Low Importance:
Laundry
Watching ESPN
Cleaning
Being lazy
Shoveling
Tasks of Low Motivation and High Importance:
Continued work on my thesis
Paying bills
Going to the doctor
Going to the dentist
Tasks of High Motivation and High Importance:
Daily workout
Eating nutritiously/Cooking my own meals
Taking care of my dog
Performing well in my job(s)
Grocery Shopping
Sleeping
Getting my hair cut regularly
Tasks of High Motivation and Low Importance:
Checking Facebook
Checking my phone
Clothes shopping
Leisure reading (when I have school reading to be completing)
Watching Netflix
The first goal I have for myself is to continue working on my thesis. Specifically, I would like to determine my committee, approve proposal, finish my literature review, and possibly begin conducting research before the end of this school year. This is an ambitious goal, and because I know it will take a lot of work I am not very motivated to achieve it. The topic is interesting to me, and I know this goal is very important to me. However, at this time I am not very motivated to complete the task. The second goal I have for myself is to complete a half marathon before this year is over. Being health and fit is very important to me, and I have never completed a half marathon before. I would consider this goal to be very important to me, and I am motivated to accomplish it because exercising is something I enjoy. A third goal I have for myself is to do well in all of my classes. This is always a goal I set for myself each semester, and this goal is something I have highly motivated to complete. I would say, however, that even though this goal is of high importance and of high motivation, it is usually fairly easy for me to accomplish because school is a major priority in my life.
I have enjoyed completing this assignment. It has allowed me to reflect on my motivation for the tasks and goals I work to do to. I have realized that I regularly take part in tasks that are of low importance to me and my life, but I am highly motivated to do. The tasks that I have categorized as highly important and highly motivating are tasks that I tend to enjoy and want to do well. As for the tasks that I have categorized as low importance and low motivation, I tend to not enjoy doing these tasks. The goals I have set for myself are all important to me because if they weren’t, I do not believe I would have set them as goals. Being motivated to complete them depends on how much I enjoy them. Therefore, I do not set goals for myself that are not important and not motivating. I think goals need to be important for them to be goals.
Low motivation and low importance:
Tasks: Cleaning, laundry
Goal: To become rich.
Low motivation and high importance:
Tasks: Textbook assignments
Goal: To become more involved.
High motivation and low importance:
Tasks: Reading for fun, watching television
Goal: To become more organized.
High motivation and high importance:
Tasks: Doing my job to its best.
Goal: To get good grades.
When looking at tasks and goal, the high in importance things were the easiest since they are something you think about. The high in motivation things are the tasks you are constantly setting out to do and the low in motivation things are things that you are constantly trying to convince yourself to do but it takes you a long time to get it done.
The low in importance things were harder to come up with. Something you had high in motivation but wasn’t important was the hardest to think of. Eventually I decided on something that didn’t really have much importance but was something I really enjoyed so I was still motivated to do it. A goal was even harder to come up with since you don’t make many goals that aren’t important to you. Eventually I thought of goals that I didn't care much for but still was motivated enough to do it.
For a task and goal that was low in motivation and importance I chose something that didn't really matter to me and I wasn't motivated to do either.
This assignment showed me how motivation can happen at many different levels for things that are important or not important. It showed me how often things that are important to us are things we are more motivated about but there are still also things that are important that we just have no motivation to do. I saw how things that are important to us are things we more often think about, despite if we are motivated to do them or not.
Low Motivation and Low Importance:
Tasks: Cleaning my room, laundry, watching television
Goals: To purchase new video games
Low Motivation and High Importance:
Tasks: Studying, reading class textbooks (consistently), going to the doctor regularly
Goals: Eat healthier and cook more for myself
High Motivation and Low Importance:
Tasks: Playing guitar, finishing video games, checking Facebook
Goals: Start following a new show on Netflix
High Motivation and High Importance:
Tasks: Working out regularly, maintaining good grades, making new friends and keeping the ones I currently have
Goals: To achieve above a 3.7 GPA this semester
While these goals have always been thoughts in my head, it was a new experience to have them in writing directly in front of me. However, I did not find it very helpful to post goals that I do not find important. Why would I even consider goals that are not important to me or give me any motivation to accomplish? I suppose the chart helped me to develop a plan on where to focus the most amount of energy.
Looking at the goals that ARE important to me, such as achieving above a 3.7 GPA, I can see that some behaviors that would lead to this goal being completed are what I traditionally consider non-motivational. For example, I understand that reading a class textbook is a very important behavior to reach this goal, but up to this point I have not been motivated to do so. Looking at a goal in writing can help me develop a way to achieve it. By setting this high motivation goal, I feel as though I will be more highly motivated to do whatever it is to achieve it, even if it means actually reading my textbooks.
Low Motivation, Low Importance
Tasks: Watching TV, Doing laundry, Cleaning my apartment
Goals: To catch up on my favorite TV shows
Low Motivation, High Importance
Tasks: Eating Healthy, Reading course textbooks, Going to the dentist
Goals: Maintain a healthy diet
High Motivation, Low Importance
Tasks: Check all my social networks sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), Clothes shopping
Goals: Filter my Facebook friends (“unfriend”)
High Motivation, High Importance
Tasks: Working out, Get good grades, Stay connected with close friends and family
Goals: Be accepted into an MSW program
This assignment was very interesting because I never considered laying out my goals in such a format. Normally, I see all the goals that I set for myself as being very important. I usually also feel very motivated to complete them. Why would I make these goals if they didn’t matter? However, by having me describe my tasks and goals as either “high important” or “low important” forced me to really break down my goals and re-evaluate things. For example, I know that eating healthy is something that is very important. However, at a motivational level I found myself as not really trying to keep this diet; I really don’t have that drive to do so. In another example, I know for a fact that maintaining high grades is very important to me because I want to be accepted into a graduate program in the near future. Thus, I am very motivated to keep my grades up.
In looking at some of these goals, I can see how some of my lesser important “goals” get in the way of those that really matter. I think this affects me the most when I put my “High Motivation, Low Importance” goals first. Is it really necessary that I unfriend people from my Facebook account? No, but I have a very high motivation to do so. If I change my behaviors and attitudes by focusing more on the things that have a high importance in my life, I feel that I will become more confident in my abilities to accomplish such goals. I will no longer have feelings of regret for putting less important tasks first.
Tasks of Low Importance and Low Motivation:
Cleaning dishes
Sweeping the floor
Making my bed
Putting away clothes
Tasks of High Importance and Low Motivation:
Updating resume
Reading chapters
Checking e-mails
Sending e-mails
Tasks of Low Importance and High Motivation:
Organizing school books
Going home
Spending time with friends
Watching TV/movies
Being on Pinterest
Tasks of High Importance and High Motivation:
Going to work
Going to class
Attending meetings
Arriving place on time
Paying bills on time
Meeting deadlines
Taking notes in class
Sleeping
Goals of Low Importance and Low Motivation:
Go to Worlds for horseback riding
Find a boyfriend/ be in a relationship
Goals of High Importance and Low Motivation
Attend Grad School
Eat healthy
Lose/maintain a healthy weight
Apply for insurance
Meet with my Advisor
Goals of Low Importance and High Motivation:
Attend the Students Today Leaders Forever Pay it Forward trip
Volunteer
Finish watching a TV series
Goals of High Importance and High Motivation:
Become an Resident Assistant
Receive good grades
Graduate from college
Prepare for Field Placement
I realized that I struggled to come up with tasks that I have high motivation for, but are considered of low importance. It has always been a goal of mine to keep my priorities in order, and academics always come first. I am highly motivated to excel academically and within my job. Making to-do lists is something I enjoy doing to help me stay organized and prepared. The things I am most excited to do that are important to me are often the first things done. Then after those are completed, I often push away the things that are not as important or that I do not feel motivated to do. By the time I would be getting around to those tasks I usually have something else come up that is of importance and that I am motivated to complete. Therefore, an issue I recognized is that I struggle with follow-through if I am not motivated to complete a task or goal. It takes me so much longer to get those done than if I wanted to finish it in the immediate future.
Since arriving to college, I have noticed that goals that used to be very important to me in high school, no longer seem to be as substantial. Going to worlds is a good example of this. I used to spend every day from March to October riding my horse and preparing for big shows, but lately I have not even really put the time into seeing my horse. It may be a little different because I am not living at home anymore.
As I am still living on campus, I do not need to cook for myself very often, but when I do I have no ambition to wash dishes. I often find ways to keep myself busy with my important goals and tasks, so do not put the time into doing dishes everyday or sweeping the floor more than once a semester.
For the following year, I would really like to become a Resident Assistant. The leftover energy that was not spent on school work and work, I spend preparing for the RA interviews coming up in February.
Low Motivation, Low Importance
Tasks: Clean the bathroom, Do the dishes, gardening, shave my legs
Goals: stop watching TV, don’t procrastinate,
Low Motivation, High Importance
Tasks: Shower, workout
Goals: Lose weight, go out more, stop biting my nails
High Motivation, Low Importance
Tasks: Tweeze my eyebrows, check facebook, txt my boyfriend
Goals: get engaged, practice guitar, make the dean’s list
High Motivation, High Importance
Tasks: go to work, check my email, do my homework
Goals: get good grades, have a job by graduation
It’s interesting what things came to mind right away and which answers I had to dig for. I always have working out/ losing weight on my mind and I am terrible at it, so that was the easiest thing to come up with. Turns out the hardest things to think of were what I have high motivation and high importance for. Most of the things that came to mind that I really want are things that I struggle to achieve. I am not so sure that I learned a whole lot besides the fact that I have more things in my life that I find unimportant than I do important. I am not quite sure what I think that means though. Making this list makes me wish I had more passions in my life and had more motivation to do the things I find important.
Tasks-Low Motivation and Low Importance:Cleaning, loafing around
Tasks-Low Motivation and High Importance:Laundry, Work, Reading text books
Tasks-High Motivation and High Importance:exercising, Sleeping right
Tasks-High Motivation and Low Importance:Playing games
Goals-Low Motivation and Low Importance:cut down on coffee
Goals-Low Motivation and High Importance:Stop procrastinating
Goals-High Motivation and High Importance:Lose 20 lbs
Goals-High Motivation and Low Importance:Get a dog
I thought this blog assignment was going to be fairly easy to accomplish since it did not appear to require much work but when actually doing the assignment that's when it became another story. Thinking of the tasks or goals that I thought to be high importantance and motivation were so easy to come up with since I think about those quite often on the other hand thinking of goals or tasks for low importance and motivation was so hard to think about since I never do think about them making this assignment require a lot more time spent on it then I had originally thought. Having to do this blog made me really think about what I considered important and what I would like to accomplish which I actually think having to write down the goals I have and categorizing them of low or high importance might help me with the goals I need to actually focus on and accomplish much more readily.
Low Motivation & Low Importance:
Tasks: Laundry, Cleaning (both apartment and car), starting things early to get ahead.
Goals: Plan ahead more frequently and stay organized; do away with procrastination.
Low Motivation & High Importance:
Tasks: Building Credit, graduate school preparation, eating healthy, going to the dentist.
Goals: Initiate a solid jump on graduate school and improve/build credit.
High Motivation & Low Importance:
Tasks: spending money, video games, Netflix, Facebook.
Goals: Consider actual needs vs. desires when spending money and substitute some Netflix/Facebook time for something educational (news, reading, textbook).
High Motivation & High Importance:
Tasks: Maintaining GPA, close ties to family and friends, 100% effort at work, positive outlook.
Goals: Be accepted into my prospective law schools and start each day with a great mood.
In my experience in reflecting upon these goals I found it rather interesting and absolutely beneficial in regards to setting up a plan to achieve the stated goals. I can say I normally always have a ‘goal’ here and there that comes and goes in my mind, but is easily lost in the midst of a busy lifestyle. In this reflection it gave me the opportunity to really analyze my priorities and judge where it is I spend most of my time. The best lesson I learned from this observation was that my ‘Low Motivation & High Importance’ tasks/goals were not as much of a focus as they should be. Given this assignment, I allotted myself a new perspective on how to approach and prioritize my daily tasks, as well as ides in how I might better manage my free or leisure time.
I hadn’t previously looked at motivation in a way that breaks them down into sub-categories, ranking them being high or low/important or non-important, and given the end result and the ultimate goals that I want to achieve, I find that I need to recalculate my approach to motivation, whether it be high or low, and put more of an effort into tasks that consist of 'High Importance,' for previous to this opportunity I was wasting way too much time on tasks that weren’t necessarily important in the grand scheme of things. I believe with this new outlook and daily attempt to approach tasks/goals this way may make achieving my desired goals with less strain and deem them more attainable. In conclusion, this assignment has most definitely clarified motivations actual effect on emotion and how they reflect on our daily lives. Of course, I don’t want to completely cut out the tasks of ‘High Motivation & Low Importance’ for they supply fun and a break from the stresses of everyday life, but I must endorse the idea to pick-up progress on tasks that are ‘Low Motivation & High Importance,’ for those are the issues that lead to my biggest career/life goals, and in improving that motivation will only bring me closer to achieving the related goals; in turn increasing my overall emotion, making life all the more merrier!
Low Motivation/Low Importance
Tasks: working out, doing laundry
Goals: Finding a mate/soulmate, having children, losing weight
Low Motivation/ High Importance
Tasks: cleaning, working, homework, paying bills
Goals: grocery shopping, living 100% on my own with no help from my parents
High Motivation/ Low Importance
Tasks: hanging out and seeing friends, shopping, watching t.v.
Goals: Going to the CMA Fest in Nashville, getting a tattoo
High Motivation/ High Importance
Tasks: sleeping, personal hygiene, making and eating food
Goals: finishing school, finding a job that will lead to my career, to be debt free within 5 years after graduation
Before having to do this assignment and write down all of my goals, I really didn’t think about them all that much. I knew I wanted to finish college and find a job, but other than that I don’t think of my goals that often. Certain goals like finishing college, is a big motivator for me, since I want to succeed in life and have a successful career. I currently work in the restaurant business, and there is no way that that is something I would want to do for the rest of my life, so going to school and getting that degree to better myself is a huge motivator and something that is very important to me. However when it comes to having low motivated and low important goals like finding a husband and having children, these are lower on my list because before I find a husband and have children, I want to know that I can support myself and others and I also want to be able to travel some and be able to do things while I’m still young before I decide to have children.
Honestly, coming up with some of these tasks and goals were very difficult for me to do because who would really think to have goals that are both low motivation and low importance. Most people make goals because they are importance to them and their motivation is because of the importance to themselves. I believe doing this assignment has clarified some issues. I think it was a good thing that I had to sit down and think about my goals that I do have for myself. I also think it was good to see on paper what I view as important, when in reality, not all of it is that important. This in return will hopefully help me in the future with what I put my focus and attention to.
Tasks: Low Motivation, Low Importance
Doing my laundry
Cleaning my dorm
Writing things in my calendar
Tasks: Low motivation, High Importance
Spending money on textbooks
Getting out of bed in the morning
Starting on assignments
Reading
Taking Tests
Tasks: High Motivation, Low Importance
Skateboarding
Buying decorations for my dorm
Playing video games
Learning how to play guitar
Tasks: High Motivation, High Importance
Preparing for the GRE
Going to class
To make my mother proud
Working out
Goals: Low Motivation, Low Importance
Learn how to dance
Buying a new phone because mine is broken
Buying a new car
Goals: Low Motivation, High Importance
Visit a different country
Find a new job
Valentine’s Day
Goals: High Motivation, Low Importance
Becoming a professional skateboarder
Becoming a RA
Becoming a rock star
Going back home
Maintain healthy diet
Goals: High Motivation, High Importance
Deciding on what a specific Psychology major
Getting into Grad School
Taking the GRE this year
Getting an excellent grades in my classes
Graduating On May 2014
I appreciated this assignment. “Motivation toward a Goal” made me sit down and reflect about what I believe is important to me and my future. I chose the typical things; excellent grades, graduation, and deciding on a specific field of psychology to major in. My top priority is the GRE.
The GRE is something of high significance to me and I am really motivated to prepare for this exam. Listening to speakers from my previous classes lecture about the GRE is one of the reasons I have become so motivated about preparing for this exam. It never fails, every time somebody would raise their hand to ask this question, “Can you tell me about the GRE, how was it? The speaker would get a look of despair and say it was the worst experience of their undergraduate year. Then we would ask why was it such a stressful exam and ninety-five percent of the time the answer would be, “I took the GRE test too lightly and did not study at all, so learn from my mistakes and please prepare for this exam as much as you can.” Then the speaker explained if you have okay grades but your score on the GRE is really high then you would virtually get accepted in any school of your choice. When the speaker said any school of your choice my mind was instantly made up. I am determined to go beyond my best ability.
That is my main goal and I am so lucky because I get all the motivation I need to make my goal a reality because of my family, mainly from my mother. My mother and I have been through everything together, good times and bad times. When I hit “rock bottom”, a term that I use to refer to the lowest point of my life, my mother was there to help me find my true potential. It’s hearing my mother voice in my head tell me that she is so proud of me and that she can image me becoming an important person in the future.
TASKS
Low Motivation/Low Importance: cleaning, making my bed, putting away books, laundry, dishes
Low Motivation/High Importance: feeding my fish, readings of homework, working out regularly
High Motivation/Low Importance: being with friends, watching TV/movies/sports, social media, shopping
High Motivation/High Importance: homework assignments/projects, work, organization
GOALS
Low Motivation/Low Importance: stay caught up on TV shows, stop procrastinating
Low Motivation/High Importance: eat healthy and exercise regularly, quit biting the inside of my cheek/mouth
High Motivation/Low Importance: learn to play my guitar, buy a puppy, get another tattoo and piercing
High Motivation/High Importance: attend graduate school, raise my cumulative GPA, continue having a high semester GPA
I realized quite a bit while thinking about things for this assignment. It really made me think about things I do on a daily basis (or don't do, making me realize they're a good thing to categorize in low motivation and low importance) or things that I do regularly. It made me think more about my life and how I rate things in it. When thinking about goals, I mainly just thought about things that I want or want to accomplish.
I mainly had the most of an eye opener with this assignment in the goals section than in the tasks section. It made me realize the things that are most important to me and things I want to accomplish more than others. It also made me realize that the things I have under high importance are things that are going to affect me more later in life to accomplish things I want. The things of low importance were small things that are more like "wants" than goals. My parents always told me that there's a difference between wants and needs. I thought of this a lot as I was putting things between low and high importance. This list is very helpful for me to realize things that I need to do and things I need to work on.
Low Motivation, Low Importance:
-Making my bed
-Cleaning my room
-Doing laundry
Goal: Visit graduate school in Chicago
Low Motivation, High Importance:
-Working out
-Eating somewhat healthy
-Going to work
Goal: Finish up all graduate school applications
High Motivation, Low Importance:
-Check Facebook
-Finish up lineup for my radio show
-Watching TV
Goal: Finish up Fraternity rush events
High Motivation, High Importance:
-Good grades
-Friends
-Living up my last semester of undergraduate
Goal: Graduating in May
I found this exercise really interesting. It was hard at times to think of some tasks or goals especially the low motivation and low importance ones. It is almost saddening to see some of these important goals that I need to be motivated to do and not being able to not actually put them down, in other words to have already completed them. Speaking of completing goals, I am having a really hard time just completing all my graduate school applications because I feel so burned out. It is frustrating to see that I had to put it down as a low motivation but high importance goal. Hopefully this exercise will give me a boost to just get that stuff done!
TASKS:
Low importance, low motivation: doing laundry, cleaning, running errands.
High importance, low motivation: grocery shopping, doing homework, filling up with gas.
Low importance, high motivation: checking social media, going to athletic events, playing intramurals.
High importance, high motivation: going to my internship and job, going to church/college ministry, finding a job after graduation.
GOALS:
Low importance, low motivation: to make a personal budget.
High importance, low motivation: Doing well in classes, exercise on a regular basis, to become a better public/group speaker.
Low importance, high motivation: to play well in intramurals, to read books for fun, to decide on what I am doing for spring break.
High importance, high motivation: find a job after graduation, to invest in an underclassman to take over for me at my job/internship when I graduate, to network with professionals.
It was very interesting to reflect on these different categories for motivation and importance. In the task grid it was very easy to identify what I was motivated to do and what was most important to me. I could simply go about my week in my head and think about the tasks that I do. These tasks and the motivation attached to them have stayed fairly consistent over the years, not much has changed, and my motivations tend to remain constant based on the task. For the goals grid it was more difficult to think through. It made me truly reflect on what my goals are in various aspects of my life. I noticed that most of my goals either were highly important, or I am highly motivated to reach them. I only had 1 goal that I could think of where I was both unmotivated and it was of low importance. It also clarified that some of my goals should be altered or maybe of more motivation or importance than they currently are. For example, I wish that I was more motivated to do well in my classes, or that I would be more motivated to exercise. These clarifications of my goals has helped me think about how to practically start taking steps to either motivate myself more, or to just start doing them.
TASKS:
Low importance, low motivation: doing laundry, cleaning, running errands.
High importance, low motivation: grocery shopping, doing homework, filling up with gas.
Low importance, high motivation: checking social media, going to athletic events, playing intramurals.
High importance, high motivation: going to my internship and job, going to church/college ministry, finding a job after graduation.
GOALS:
Low importance, low motivation: to make a personal budget.
High importance, low motivation: Doing well in classes, exercise on a regular basis, to become a better public/group speaker.
Low importance, high motivation: to play well in intramurals, to read books for fun, to decide on what I am doing for spring break.
High importance, high motivation: find a job after graduation, to invest in an underclassman to take over for me at my job/internship when I graduate, to network with professionals.
It was very interesting to reflect on these different categories for motivation and importance. In the task grid it was very easy to identify what I was motivated to do and what was most important to me. I could simply go about my week in my head and think about the tasks that I do. These tasks and the motivation attached to them have stayed fairly consistent over the years, not much has changed, and my motivations tend to remain constant based on the task. For the goals grid it was more difficult to think through. It made me truly reflect on what my goals are in various aspects of my life. I noticed that most of my goals either were highly important, or I am highly motivated to reach them. I only had 1 goal that I could think of where I was both unmotivated and it was of low importance. It also clarified that some of my goals should be altered or maybe of more motivation or importance than they currently are. For example, I wish that I was more motivated to do well in my classes, or that I would be more motivated to exercise. These clarifications of my goals has helped me think about how to practically start taking steps to either motivate myself more, or to just start doing them.
Low Motivation and Low Importance:
Tasks: Picking up my room, vacuuming, doing dishes.
Goals: Get a new phone, continue watching season 2 of Big Bang Theory.
Low Motivation and High Importance:
Tasks: Studying, doing homework, buy groceries.
Goals: Read ahead for my classes and study more.
High Motivation and Low Importance:
Tasks: Watching 21 Jump Street, checking twitter, texting.
Goals: Tan more, and read a book in my free time.
High Motivation and High Importance:
Tasks: Sleeping, eating healthy, working out regularly.
Goals: Maintain a good GPA and continue a good workout schedule.
I thought this assignment would be easier than it actually turned out to be. I had a hard time coming up with some tasks, especially for low motivation and low importance. I could think of goals and tasks that were higher in importance more easily because they are, simply, more important to me. I had a harder time thinking of goals that were low in motivation and low in importance, because those goals obviously aren’t really something I’m too concerned about accomplishing. However, they are things that I may get done sometime soon, like I could use a new phone, for example. Writing down these goals helped me to realize where I should focus the majority of my time and energy, and where it’s most important. For example, I should keep working towards my goals under high motivation and high importance, which I have been working towards already. I should also try and focus on the goals that are high in importance but that I am not so motivated to do right now. This exercise was interesting and helped with my time management and goal-planning.
Low Motivation/Low Importance:
House/yard work
Low Motivation/High Importance:
Finishing my research paper for my master’s degree
Keeping up with reading in classes
Training my dog
Job hunting
Finding time for family
Stress management
Budgeting my finances
High Motivation/Low Importance:
Facebook
Pinterest – and the projects I attempt, due to my time spent on there
TV
Phone apps/games
High Motivation/High Importance:
Responding to important emails
Preparation for teaching fitness classes
Doing well in my GA position
Doing well in my academic classes
Healthy diet & exercise
Spending time with my husband
The current goals I have for myself are mostly related to work and school. This is my last semester of grad school so my top priority is to finish my research paper for my master’s degree by May. This is in the low motivation group because 1) I am a procrastinator, and 2) right now I feel like I have so many other priorities and can work on this until May. Though I do realize finishing this will take time and I need to work on completing it now. Another goal I have is to get my resume updated and begin job hunting. I also have had low motivation for this task, since graduation still seems so far away right now. My goals related to the high motivation group are things related to everyday tasks, such as being prepared for academic and fitness classes, and being successful in my job.
For this task I had a hard time thinking of tasks of low importance to me and an easy time thinking of tasks that are of a high importance. I believe I always have a list in my head of the important things I want to accomplish, and the ones in the here and now become high priority. This assignment makes it clear I need to work on my time management skills. I also can set goals to cut back on the tasks listed in the high motivation/low importance group now that I have pin pointed them.
Low M/Low I: Shopping at Sam’s Club, watching NBA games, attending budget meetings, shopping
Goals: Prioritize my schedule
High M/Low I: Watching TV, Playing games, Facebook/Pinterest,
Goals: Again, I need to prioritize my schedule in order to meet those things that I need to get done
Low M/High I: Writing an internship paper, laundry, working out, eating healthy, and jumping through budget requests hoops
Goals: Put dates on my Google calendar and actually stick to them. Pay attention to the food I eat, rather than just whatever is easiest, schedule a time/deadline to complete the budget requests
High M/High I: Read and replying to emails, work load @ job, creating a to do list, following a schedule, cuddling with dogs
Goals: respond to all emails within 24 hours, be rated “excellent” in my next review, have my to do list fully organized by priority and date, go to bed on time for plenty of sleep and cuddle time.
I am an extremely busy individual with lots of duties and responsibilities so it was hard for me to come up with low motivation/low importance tasks because 99% of my time is consumed with time sensitive tasks and I rarely have time to relax. It was easiest for me to fill in low motivation/high importance because my to do list is currently 64 items long and that is not an exaggeration. These are things I have to get done yet I’d much rather take a nap or go shopping. I do have to make sure I prioritize these tasks and take time for some relaxation when I can get it. I think I need to finish what I am currently involved in and then not take on any more responsibilities so that I can stop my glorification of ‘busy’. My priorities and motivations are definitely with others and organizations rather than my own personal wants. Although I tend to get bored easily so chances are I would be so bored I’d pick up too much stuff again.
Low Motivation, Low Importance:
Tasks: attending budgeting meetings, watching basketball on tv
Goals: Leave the room when the roommate starts watching t.v. and do things which are important. Send the treasure to the budgeting meetings.
Reflect: Not much of what I do is of low motivation and low importance. I am very busy and involved in many organizations so when I do have free time I definitely have motivation to use it up.
Low Motivation, High Importance:
Tasks: Budgeting for Psych Club and Psi Chi for next year, complete honors paper, read for neurobiology
Goals: Allocate portions of my night toward these tasks and stick to the calendar. If I have spare time, it should be spent on these tasks. No procrastination!
Reflection: These are things that must get done in order for me to obtain a goal—getting an A, graduating with honors and staying in the positive for psychology club. I know they are things that need to get done in order to be successful; I just do not want to do them right away in my free time.
High Motivation, Low Importance:
Tasks: Pinterest, Facebook, watching the Bachelor every Monday night, learning Nicki Minaj raps, html formatting these blogs (hence the bolds and italics), doing one load of laundry—even if it is only a few articles of clothing.
Goals: Prioritize my schedule, but allow for the “me time”.
Reflection: Like I said before, when I have free time I will utilize it to benefit my “inner happy”. These are things I find myself doing for hours without noticing time has flown by, a.k.a “flow”. These are also things which appeal to my O.C.D. side—keeping things neat and tidy.
High Motivation, High Importance:
Tasks: Conduct experiments/dissections for research, funding for Dance Marathon, planning my wedding, making a “to do” list,
Goals: Keep organized and detailed record of what has been done, only allocate
Reflection: These are all things that I am currently enjoying and have importance. Fund raising for UNI DM is important because I am helping out the kiddos, and for that same reason is why I am motivated to get it done. Planning my wedding is also highly motivating because I love the feeling of getting something accomplished. Crossing off something on my “to do” list is highly motivating, keeping myself on task makes it important to keep a “to do” list going. I really enjoy what I am researching which makes it easy to stay motivated and it is important to get more data for my research paper.
Tasks of Low Motivation and Low Importance:
Watching television
Reading magazines
Laying around the house
Organizing my closet
Tasks of Low Motivation and High Importance:
Going to the gym
Doing homework
Taking vitamins
Walking the dog
Tasks of High Motivation and High Importance:
Showering daily
Sleeping
Graduating
Finding a job
Tasks of High Motivation and Low Importance:
Shopping
Video games
Doing my nails
Talking on the phone with friends
Goals of Low Motivation and Low Importance: find a new way to arrange my closet to optimize space
Goals of Low Motivation and High Importance: start running again
Goals of High Motivation and High Importance: finishing school/graduating
Goals of High Motivation and Low Importance: finding a new pea coat
It seems my goals with low importance take more time than they should. Seemingly shallow to find a new way to hang and fold clothing, as well as shopping for a new coat (especially when I already have a coat). These goals seem petty in comparison to taking care of myself and finishing school. Having a high motivation and importance to finish school, only after more time put towards it than I wished to invest. My goal to start running again should have higher motivation. I let school take so long and only have a high motivation to finish now, because it has become inconvenient for me to take this long. I need a higher motivation to run before my health or body finds it inconvenient to let me run. I place to much emphases on things that aren’t worthy of the attention.
Tasks of Low Motivation and Low Importance:
Watching television
Reading magazines
Laying around the house
Organizing my closet
Tasks of Low Motivation and High Importance:
Going to the gym
Doing homework
Taking vitamins
Walking the dog
Tasks of High Motivation and High Importance:
Showering daily
Sleeping
Graduating
Finding a job
Tasks of High Motivation and Low Importance:
Shopping
Video games
Doing my nails
Talking on the phone with friends
Goals of Low Motivation and Low Importance: find a new way to arrange my closet to optimize space
Goals of Low Motivation and High Importance: start running again
Goals of High Motivation and High Importance: finishing school/graduating
Goals of High Motivation and Low Importance: finding a new pea coat
It seems my goals with low importance take more time than they should. Seemingly shallow to find a new way to hang and fold clothing, as well as shopping for a new coat (especially when I already have a coat). These goals seem petty in comparison to taking care of myself and finishing school. Having a high motivation and importance to finish school, only after more time put towards it than I wished to invest. My goal to start running again should have higher motivation. I let school take so long and only have a high motivation to finish now, because it has become inconvenient for me to take this long. I need a higher motivation to run before my health or body finds it inconvenient to let me run. I place to much emphases on things that aren’t worthy of the attention.
Tasks of Low Motivation and Low Importance:
-Dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, ect.
-Cleaning my room
-Doing laundry
-Working ahead in class
Tasks of Low Motivation and High Importance:
-Reading text books and study for tests
-Paying bills
-Walk my dog
-Eat healthy
-Get to the gym
Tasks of High Motivation and Low Importance:
-Get better high score on games on my phone
-Hang out with friends
-Watch Netflix
-Facebook
Tasks of High Motivation and High Importance
-Organizing for work
-Reading the Bible each day
-Eating and sleeping
-Going to class
Goals of Low Motivation and Low Importance
-Get into a relationship
-Keep my house at least looking clean
-Make tons of money
Goals of Low Motivation and High Importance
-Stop procrastinating
-Work out regularly
-Decide what the next step in life is
Goals of High Motivation and Low Importance
-Get to all six livable continents and all fifty states
-Write a book
-Open a gym
Goals of High Motivation and High Importance
-Read the Bible in one year this year
-Earn good grades
-Graduate in May
I found in doing this assignment, it was really easy to come up with both tasks and goals of high motivation and low importance. I just thought, ‘what do I do a lot or really want that doesn’t matter.’ My goals of low importance and high motivation are all goals that I have had for years. I had a much harder time thinking of tasks and goals of high motivation and high importance. I noticed in doing this assignment that I have never differentiated between high and low importance of goals. I haven’t fully accomplished any of my low importance and high motivation goals because the funding or the time hasn’t been there, and I know inside that these are leisurely goals set to keep life interesting.
I am at a point in my life right now where I do not know what I am doing next. I think I have been afraid to set serious long term goals because I have no idea where I will be in five months or five years. Therefore, I have no idea which goals will be at all reachable.
Seeing my goals actually typed out in words has already helped me to become more motivated to accomplish them. Looking at where I put some of the tasks made me realize that my house is probably not as clean or organized as it should be, but I do not have much motivation to change that. I see that if I can find a way to change my motivation for the low motivation, high importance goals and tasks I will accomplish much more. The next thing to do here is figure out how.
Low Motivation and Low Importance:
Tasks: Cleaning my room, Washing Dishes, Do my wash, Watching TV
Goals: To buy new mini kits
Low Motivation and High Importance:
Tasks: Studying/ reading class textbooks, Running,
Goals: Become more physically fit
High Motivation and Low Importance:
Tasks: Modeling a new miniature, Painting miniatures, Playing video games, Checking internet media/ phone, Cooking/ baking.
Goals: Finishing several unfinished video games.
High Motivation and High Importance:
Tasks: Having a strong social circle, Meeting new people, Attending class, Helping my Family/loved ones Succeed.
Goals: Graduate on time, and find an employer so I can use my newly earned degree, Make my Martial Arts Instructor proud.
I find this task important because people should always be weary of their goal and aspirations of what they want to do. This exercises forces us to put some of these goals down into writing, which makes them all the more real, more concrete of goals once they are written. Although writing it in blog format, to me, doesn't seem to be all that helpful. In fact it could possibly harmful as you are admitting to your peers your strong and weak points. However if your peers are willing to help you with your identified weak points, then it could be more of a strong point. Also there is a level of anonymity, not to mention may of the students do not read many of the posts. I think that everyone should be listing their goals and motivations for doing things. This allows for inner analysis of ourselves.
Looking at these goals, it makes me realize how much I devote my time to things are not or may not be as important as other tasks. Because of this I am making a new goal to devote more of my time and energy to HMHI goals. The way that I am currently spending time is unacceptable to my standards. So this task was quite important to me. Achieving my BA in Psych(and doing things that will make me able to utilize it) is quite more important than watching television, playing video games.
-AJB
Low Motivation and Low Importance:
Tasks: laundry, dishes, watching TV
Goal: Buy more swim suits for spring break!
Low Motivation and High Importance:
Tasks: reading textbooks every night, studying, going home more
Goal: Start working out!
High Motivation and Low Importance:
Tasks: organizing my room, shopping online, looking at new animals to adopt
Goal: Finish watching American Horror Story
High Motivation and High Importance:
Tasks: getting good grades, working, maintaining friendships
Goal: I want to earn all A’s this semester!
I enjoyed doing this assignment because I hadn’t really thought about writing my goals out like this before. It really put them into perspective to me. I realize that I probably spend way too much time trying to accomplish goals that really have no importance whatsoever. I realize that I really need to put my time and energy into goals that are going to help me out in the long run and also ones that are of high importance to me. For example, my low motivation and high importance goal was that I need to start working out more. This is of very high importance because I need to take care of my body more than I need to sit on my butt and finish watching American Horror Story. I’m getting really excited for this class so I can learn more about myself. This blog alone has helped me get my goals in check! I have realized that this semester is going to be all about achieving my goals that I’ve set for myself, like working out more and earning all A’s this semester.
One thing I also realized while doing this assignment was that all of my goals that were of low importance are not going to benefit me in the future, whereas all of the goals of high importance will definitely benefit me in the future. This will also help me when I’m looking to set new goals as well. I will try to set goals that are of higher importance so they will benefit me more!
What are some tasks (of low importance and high importance) that you have low and high motivation for? For example, you might have low motivation for cleaning your apartment, but it also, personally, may be of low importance to you, etc. I'd like you to come up with several tasks for each category.
Tasks/Goals
Low Motivation/Low Importance
*Washing dishes
*Cleaning house
*Watching TV
Goal: Do not leave cleaning until it is too much
Low Motivation/High Importance
*Doing laundry
*Paying bills
*Reading textbooks
Goal: Put some money aside as an incentive/reward
High Motivation/Low Importance
*Facebook
*Shopping
Goal: Plan a family vacation this summer to a state we have never been to
High Motivation/High Importance
*Homework/getting good grades
*Working out
*Spending time with family
Goal: Focus on my master’s work, succeed with good grades and graduate
This assignment has clarified issues for me. I realize what I do frequently and what I should focus more on. I think that it shows the wants rather than needs. I feel that I need to have more higher motivating tasks rather than things such as Facebook and shopping but I need to focus on more important goals of higher importance. I think that working towards my goals will assist in finding tasks of more importance. It was hard to find lower important/lower motivation tasks/goals because I have many high motivating tasks.
Motivation Toward a Goal
What are some tasks (of low and high importance) that you have low and high motivation for?
Low I, low M: Vacuuming or sweeping, cleaning my shower, updating photos on Facebook, filing edited stories at work, washing my car
Low I, high M: Reading news stories and other things online, keeping in touch with people via texting or Facebook, reading for pleasure, watching movies
High I, low M: Writing articles (for work), studying for a test, reading for class (sometimes), responding to work emails, laundry, dishes
High I, high M: Doing homework, reading for class (sometimes), getting groceries and making food, searching for jobs, spending time with friends, completing immediate tasks at work, etc.
What are some goals (of low and high importance) that you have low and high motivation for?
Low I, low M: Condense and organize personal belongings, disposing of junk
Low I, high M: Read one book for pleasure per month
High I, low M: Write in a journal almost every day
High I, high M: Find a job for the summer and/or find a permanent job; save money for summer apartment
I felt stumped when I first started this assignment, but gradually things came to me. I had to check my task list and my goal sheet from work to get ideas. Sometimes I get caught up in the day-to-day and forget there is a hierarchy of tasks and a hierarchy of goals, all of which I’m trying to juggle.
Though I listed things I do for fun in “low importance” because, if I did not do them, my life would not fall apart, these things are important to me in a way. It is important to me to be able to unwind and balance my school and work obligations with a personal life, even when I have very little time for the latter. This is why I stubbornly avoid making concrete plans on Saturdays. Saturdays are the only days I don’t have to go in to work, and while I usually need that time to catch up on schoolwork or other tasks, I jealously guard my free time.
This assignment made me ponder what’s really “important.” I guess doing dishes and laundry are important because I need clothes to wear and dishes to eat off of, but at the same time, I could technically survive without those things. I struggled to categorize those for a while, but since the assignment seemed to imply that we were discussing what was personally important to us and not “objectively” important, I went with that.
The category that alarms me most is high I, low M. Why do we lack motivation to do things or work toward goals we identify as important? Can that be fixed? Is it really not important? Looking at my high I, low M goal and tasks, I can think of some general reasons as to why I don’t want to do each, but some are obvious (laundry takes forever and I have to go to the laundry facility in the cold) while others are not (I used to enjoy writing articles and now I dread it with all my being).
Tasks of Low motivation and Low Importance:
TV
gambling
riding in the car
being lazy
Tasks of Low Motivation and High Importance:
Work
cleaning
bills
excercise
Tasks of High Motivation and Low Importance:
Sports
Gaming
shopping
facebook
surfing the internet
Tasks of High Motivation and High Importance:
Taking care of a disease you may have
studying
maintence on a car
Being on time for a date
Thinking about what is important to me and motivates me in my daily has made me think about what is really important to me. Work, school, and progressing to a better way of life have always been my most important tasks. I am highly motivated to accomplish my goals and do what is necessary to make that happen. Considering leasure activities like facebook, gaming or sports is not as motivating and important because they do not help me achieve my life long goals, which is what I only care about.
Tasks of High Importance:
I often have low motivation to go to work, I absolutely always dread it. However, once I am at work I generally have high motivation to go above and beyond the normal duties just because I get so bored sitting there.
Going to classes is of high importance, but I often have low motivation for that as well. Until I get to class, then I enjoy them and have high motivation to listen and be active.
Tasks of lower importance:
I generally have high motivation to go shopping! Except, I don't really need to. I have to work to unmotivate myself to go shopping most of the time.
I also generally have high motivation for facebook and twitter, even though it is not nearly as important as my homework.
Goals of high importance/high motivation:
Getting my bachelors.
Getting my masters in school counseling.
Goals of lower importance/lower motivation:
Losing 5 pounds.
Watching all seasons of How I Met Your Mother.
Goals of high importance/low motivation:
Finding a fourth roommate for next year.
Saving money.
Goals of low importance/high motivation.
Lower the time it takes me to run a mile.
Finish the series of books I am reading.
I have really noticed that I am a lot more motivated to do something that doesn't require me to leave my house lately (I do not like the cold!) It is often really hard for me to convince myself to leave my house to go to work or class, but once I am there I realize it's really not as bad I make it out to be.
The things that I can motivate myself to do easily are the high importance goals for my future. I can see the bigger point to these types of things more so than going to one little class or one little shift at work. However, once I start to really think about it I realize that in order to reach these goals I do have to do the small things every day.
Tasks of Low motivation and Low Importance:
TV
Checking facebook
Cleaning my car
Reading textbooks when the exam is a month away
Goal = Start reading my textbooks at least a week in advance to be more prepared for exams.
Tasks of Low Motivation and High Importance:
Calling my mom
Cleaning my house
Exercising
Reading books
Goal = Finish the book "92 Ways to Talk to Anyone" by the end of this month.
Tasks of High Motivation and Low Importance:
Twitter
Going out on the weekends
Eating ice cream
Watching ESPN daily
Goal = Go out only once a week.
Tasks of High Motivation and High Importance:
Planning my week
Studying for important tests
Attending my brother's sporting events
Saving money
Goal = Make a budget and stick to it in order to have enough money in between graduation and my full time job.
This is a very interesting exercise and puts many of my daily, weekly, and even monthly activities in perspective. Without a doubt, my favorite activities are High M and Low I, which is relatively scary to me. Things that are least important are what I am most motivated to do? I am always trying to improve myself and work towards my life goals, so this exercise definitely made me realize I need to be dedicating more time to my High M, High I activities. However, I think it is imperative to find a balance that works for us as individuals between all 4 quadrants. Leisure activities and downtime in reasonable doses are essential to happiness. As long as you are allocating sufficient time to the goals that will propel you towards your goals later in life.
Tasks of low motivation and low importance:
Cleaning my house
Dishes
Laundry
Backyard work
Goal: Do these things as soon as they come up instead of putting them off for a couple of days
Tasks of low motivation and high importance:
Grocery shopping
Paying bills
Graduate applications
Goal: Make a list of things that need to be done in a certain order and stick with that list
Tasks of high motivation and low importance:
Reading
Getting on the computer
Shopping
Watching TV
Goal: Finish all of my important tasks first and then spend time doing the things I like
Tasks of high motivation and high importance:
Working
Study for tests
Getting into graduate school
Goal: Manage my time by doing things that are the most important to make sure everything gets done that needs too
When looking at my lists, I would obviously most want to do the activities that are high in motivation and low in importance such as reading or shopping. But after seeing the things that are of high importance, I see that I really need to set my priorities in order to get everything done. If I get all of the other tasks done, then I can spend my free time doing those high motivation and low importance things.
Tasks of Low Importance and Low Motivation:
Doing the dishes
Doing my laundry
Cleaning my room
Cleaning my bathroom
Goal: Travel the world.
Tasks of Low Importance and High Motivation:
Watching TV shows I missed
Reading for fun
Getting on Reddit
Goal: Keep up to date with all my shows and to finish "American Horror Story" this weekend.
Tasks of High Importance and Low Motivation:
Buying groceries
Paying rent
Working out
Goal: Save up money and study for the GRE.
Tasks of High Importance and High Motivation:
Going to work
Getting into Grad School
Building my resume
Goal: To work and save up money for grad school, work at a place that will look good on my resume and increase the likelihood of getting into grad school.
This exercise was interesting because it made me realize how much motivation I have for things. I realize that I am much more motivated to do unimportant things, like watching TV shows, than I am to do important things like homework. But I also realized how highly motivated I am to get into graduate school. I also realize that I need to stop procrastinating on tasks that I need to do but I don't want to.
Low motivation and Low importance:
Task: Making my bed, shaving, cleaning my room, doing the dishes
Goal: clean my room once a week and clean my dishes as soon as I’m done eating.
Low motivation High importance:
Task: brushing teeth, reading chapters, working out, eating healthy
Goal: Stay healthy by exercising and eating the right combinations of foods.
High motivation Low importance:
Task: watching sports, playing video games, take a nap
Goal: to become engaged in the classroom and go to the library to stay away from distractions like movies, television, and video games.
High motivation and High importance:
Task: Attending class, being on time for work, getting enough sleep
Goal: Be on time, and present for every class unless sick. Go to bed at a decent time.
By doing this exercise I found out all of the things that I do not like doing and how sometimes you just have to do things you don’t want to do. You realize that you're not the only one that has to face these problems, so it makes it easier to deal with them. I would love not to clean my room once a week but I do it anyway because I’m motivated by the feeling I get when I walk into a clean room every day. My goals of staying healthy are driven by the simple fact of not wanting to become sick or overweight. If I need to go to the library just to get my homework done then I will because once I’m done I can relax and do whatever I want. I’m motivated to be present and on time for school, work, or a meeting because I don’t want to get in trouble. I also know that getting there is half the battle, and being present can only benefit you.
Low importance and low motivation:
- Cleaning the house
- Doing the dishes
- Taking out the garbage
- Doing Laundry
Goal: Take care of these tasks a little each day so they don't become overwhelming.
High importance and low motivation:
- Paying bills
- Completing assignments
- Studying
- Getting an oil change
Goal: Prioritize between these goals and make sure to accomplish them regularly.
Low importance and high motivation:
- Watching TV
- Downloading new music
- Play games on the Ipad
- Going out
Goal: Manage the activity of these things and limit them.
High importance and high motivation:
- Going to work
- Projects for my internship
- Keeping in contact with family
- Meeting with recruiters
Goal: Have definite goals for the next year of my life.
This exercise made me think of the things in my life that I am motivated to do, and the things that I am not so motivated to do. It also made me realize that the things I am most motivated to do, and probably spend the most time doing, are also the least important things on my list.
I also learned during this exercise that I am not motivated to do the important things because they are also the difficult things, and the things that are important to my future. My main goal is to make a plan for what I want to do after college, because right now I've got a long way to go.
Tasks: Low Motivation- Low Importance
Facebook
Buying a phone with internet access
Watching Sports on TV
Watching Reality TV
Tasks: Low Motivation- High Importance
Reading my textbooks
Filling my car with gas
Going to the grocery store
Paying Bills
Tasks: High Motivation- High Importance
Daily Workout
Having a healthy diet
Getting enough sleep
Doing well in school
Being a good person
Tasks: High Motivation- Low Importance
Going Shopping
Watching Movies
Reading for Fun
Drawing
The main goal that I have for myself is to find my place in the world. (I know that sounds a bit cheesy but I didn’t know how else to put it.) When I say my place I mean more in society not with relationships. I’m going to be graduating soon and yet I have no idea what I’m doing. All I know is that my goal is to do something that makes a difference and will mean something to me.
Doing this assignment has forced me to reevaluate what I avoid worrying about because I’ve had this goal forever and I still haven’t figured it out. I usually put this goal on the backburner until I’m forced to figure it out.
Low Motivation and Low Importance:
Tasks: Shopping, Shaving legs
Goals: Finding place in which to settle down
Low Motivation and High Importance:
Tasks: Reading textbooks/books, Paying rent/utilities, Going to the doctor, Exercising, Mentoring
Goals: Finding an internship
High Motivation and High Importance:
Tasks: Sleeping, Counseling, Being social, Getting good grades
Goals: Finding a job in the field of psychology
High Motivation and Low Importance:
Tasks: Checking Facebook, Watching movies, Writing songs, Playing piano/singing
Goals: Finding a long-term significant other
I thought it was difficult in a way to reflect on certain tasks and goals based on their level of importance and my motivation toward it. In a way, I feel I would have more motivation toward the goals if I had time to achieve it. It was clarifying to see that I am highly motivated to find a long-term significant other but also that it was that important. Made me think that deep down I know I can do it on my own. It made me realize why some things are more important to me than others and where they get me. The things I have low motivation for are less rewarding monetarily or are quite time consuming and don’t get you very far quickly.
Tasks:
Low Motivation, Low Importance: close the drawer, tape posters, untie shoes.
Low Motivation, High Importance: Do laundry, work, homework.
High Motivation, Low Importance: Groom the horses, sketch, paint, watch Heartland.
High Importance, High Motivation: exercise, volunteer, shower.
Goals:
Low Motivation, Low Importance: Make artwork for my room. Go to Europe. Run a 5k.
Low Motivation, High Importance: Have a clean room. Be positive. Own a house. Buy a car.
High Motivation, Low Importance: Watch every episode of Heartland. Go Dog-sledding. Own a horse.
High Importance, High Motivation: Work out daily. Get my degree(s). Get straight A's.
The goals I have the most motivation for are ones which I can physically see or touch the results of. The long-term goals tend to have the least motivation. I also am not into tasks that take up my time and energy but don't have much of a benefit, except being completed. So, when it comes to goals, I have a lot more motivation for the ones that upon being completed are able to benefit in more ways than just their completion. But all of these goals are important to me, otherwise I wouldn't want to complete them.
I think that I need to get myself more motivated! I have a lot of things that I need to get done, and it's not going to be easy to get everything taken care of... but with a lot of organization and little bit of perseverance I know I am at least capable of getting where I want to be. It's the way I was raised; “you can be anything you want to be, if you want it bad enough”. Plus, I am pretty creative at molding things to fit my situation.
Tasks:
Low motivaiton, low importance: putting on make-up, dressing up for class
Low motivation, high importance: homework, reading, laundary, exercising, waking up early
High motivation, low importance: tanning
High motivation, high importance: eating healthy, good personal hygiene, take good care of my pets, have healthy realationships with people, work hard at my job, having money to pay the bills
Goals:
Low motivation, low importance: Start crossing things off my bucket list (ex: go sky diving)
Low motivation, high importance: Quitting smoking, quit drinking, exercise regularly
High motivation, low importance: moving somewhere after I get my BA, having a nice car
High motivation, high importance: graduating college, going to graduate school, being able to support myself
I've realized these things that I've listed all have a common pattern. The things that are more important to me (whether they be low or high motivation) - have much bigger lists. It is easier for me to ramble about things that are important to me, rather than the things that aren't. It doesn't matter whether I have high or low motivation to do these things, if they are important to me, I will get them done. Even if I don't have motivation to do some, there are still multiple things I listed that are important to me. It is also very obvious that I have a lot more motivation than I thought! Which is a really good thing for me. I always thought I was super unmotivated. Now it's easier for me to see that I get quite a bit done. This chart was very helpful in not making me feel so lazy with what I do.
Low Motivation-Low Importance:
Decorating my house, Doing laundry, Watch TV
Goal: Watch less than 5 hours of television per week.
Low Motivation-High Importance:
Doing homework, Paying the bills, Cleaning the house, Giving to charity
Goal: Get zero late assignments this semester.
High Motivation-Low Importance:
Listen to music, Intramural Basketball, Intramural Track
Goal: Become an Intramural champion again this semester.
High Motivation-High Importance:
Eat, Sleep, Exercise, Achieve good grades, Make money (work)
Goal: Get all A’s or A-‘s this semester.
These are decent goals for me to have. Some of the goals that I classified as “low importance” are actually more important that some of the goals in the “high importance” category. All of these goals are at least indirectly related to each other too. For example, watching a minimal amount of television is important in my high motivation and high importance goal of getting all A’s or A-‘s. If I do watch too much television, the latter goal may become more difficult. Rather than spending my time in front of a TV, I should be spending it on studying for tests and completing homework assignments. The same is true of my intramural goal. If I spend too much time preparing for intramural basketball, my grades might not be up to par. Thus, in the grand scheme of things, all of these goals are important because they are all intertwined at least indirectly.
This assignment was very useful in formally organizing my thoughts on the semester. However, I did have a pretty clear agenda for the semester, especially since it’s my senior year! I feel as though I would be able to gain more from this assignment if I would have applied it to topics outside of this semester. I’m still uncertain on many elements about my future. I believe it would benefit me greatly to apply this assignment to my career goals, graduate plans, and so forth.
Tasks of low motivation and low importance:
Making bed
Folding clothes
Washing dishes
Cooking dinner for bf
Tasks of High importance and Low motivation:
Doing homework
keeping up with homework/checking syllabus often
going to class
Goals of low importance and High motivation:
Seeing friends
Keeping up with tv shows
Facebooking
Keeping house clean
Goals of High importance and High motivation:
Work and doing my best while working
Paying bills
Working out/eating healthy
Getting good grades
Graduating on time
This assignment was fairly easy for me. I know what I have high and low motivation for. I feel like I know myself pretty well. Although I have not written a list exactly like this, I have written a list of goals and tasks similar to this. I am a very hands on person. If I have a problem, I’m usually writing a pros and cons list to make a decision, whether it be something silly or something very important. It’s important to me that I write these things down and clarify what I really want/need. But like I said, I have done something similar just recently, so I already had clarity.
Low Motivation-Low Importance:
Computer use, Doing laundry, Watching TV
Goal: Spend less than 3 hours a day on the computer.
Low Motivation-High Importance:
Doing homework, Putting gas in my car, Cleaning my room, Volunteering
Goal: Keep my room more organized each day.
High Motivation-Low Importance:
Music, REC sports, drawing
Goal: Limit the time I spend doing these leisure activities.
High Motivation-High Importance:
Eating, Sleeping, Achieve good grades, Have an income
Goal: Get a 3.8 GPA this semester while working 15 hours a week.
These are very important and attainable goals for me to have. Spending less time on the computer and less time doing leisurely activities will probably lead to me spending more time on school work which should improve my grades. By integrating these goals and making them interdependent, I increase the likelihood that I achieve them. By increasing my motivation in each of these categories by just a small amount will result in a snowball effect of motivation, making each goal easier to achieve each time.
This assignment forced me to address certain behavioral issues for me, and design a plan to overcome bad habits. By organizing and documenting my thoughts on the issue, I will be able to easily access this in case I need a reminder later in the semester.
Tasks:
Low motivation and Low Importance:
Exercise more
Eat less junk food
Organize my clothing
Low motivation and High importance:
Go to class 90% of the time
Actually read all of the information in the books for my assignments
Study sooner than the night before the test
High motivation and Low Importance:
Dress nice on Tuesdays, decorate my room, listen to more new music
High motivation and High importance:
Spend less money
Don’t lose stuff on the weekends
Keep my side of the room cleaner
Goals:
Low motivation and Low importance:
Be more outgoing
Be less sarcastic
Low motivation and High importance:
Visit my family more often
Make more money
High motivation and Low Importance:
Walk better in high heels
Learn how to do my eye makeup
High motivation and High Importance:
Be a more positive person
Get all As and Bs in my classes
Figure out this website and learn which assignments are due when
After thinking about the things I mentioned in this assignment I realized I probably won’t do any of the things in the Low motivation and Low importance categories. I probably won’t do all the things in the Low motivation and High importance categories either. This assignment really made me realize how little motivation I have to do anything that takes a lot of work because it was hard to think of things I feel I have a lot of motivation to do. Even the things I listed as having high motivation for I still am not very motivated to do them. I’m obviously doing well with my being positive and less sarcastic goals. I also realized the importance of some of the stuff I need to do even though I don’t want to do. I still probably won’t do all of them.
Tasks:
Low motivation, low importance-
* Cleaning my room
*
Low motivation, high importance-
*Exercising
*Keeping my schoolwork organized
*Doing Laundry
High motivation, high importance-
* Be active in my nieces/nephews lives.
* Spend time with my residents
* Spend time with my staff
High motivation, low importance-
* Sleep all day
*Shopping
Goals:
Low motivation, low importance:
* Learn Italian
Low motivation, high importance:
*Exercise at least 3 times a week
*Study math for the GRE
High motivation, low importance:
*Finish learning the Appassionata Sonata
*Learn how to play harmonica
*Improve my Greek
High motivation, high importance:
*Study vocab for the GRE
*Help my professor get her book published
*Get 8 hours of sleep every night
*Get straight As this semester
I learned a lot about motivation from this activity. The first thing that struck me was how difficult it was to come up with items to put under the sections "low motivation, low importance". This is natural-- why WOULD we think about these things? If we don't want to do it, and it's not seen as something we either should be doing or something we want to do, we won't waste our time or energy thinking about it.
This activity was also very beneficial in terms of self-reflection. If you look at the task category for "high motivation, high importance" they're all social aspects. I don't need to be "pushed" in this department. Overall, looking at someone's goals, along with their ranking of importance and motivation toward it is probably a good (albeit unconventional) way to get to know someone. Just looking through these posts, it was fascinating to see how there were some recurring tasks, though they were categorized differently for different people. While I lack organization skills overall, see it as useless and have no motivation to clean my room, someone else may find it to be very important and be naturally motivated to pick things up. The variability in these answers is fascinating-- I want to know how someone would be intrinsically motivated to do something I really just dread doing. I'm sure the answers to these questions are in the book and will be explored throughout the course of the semester.
Tasks of Low Motivation and Low Importance
Going to Class with notes
Eating
Sleeping In
Cleaning House
Tasks of Low Motivation and High Importance
Homework
New Job
Military
Bills
Tasks of High Motivation and Low Importance
Lifting
Having Fun
Facebook
Phone
Tasks of High Motivation and High Importance
Cheerleading
Back Tuck
Grades
Being Healthier
My first goal is a multifaceted one, I am in the military and have been slacking on the cardio part of my PT which I need to pass to get promoted and most likely not get the boot. This will be tough with cheer and school since I also work, I sometimes feel like my plate is just to full, but then realize I have time to do things when I would rather lie around. I need more motivation from the inside.
I obviously have some things put in the incorrect areas like bills and homework. I should be super motivated to get them completed so as to not cause more stress about being late or having to work more. Yes cheerleading is important to me but out of the four the grades and being healthier are mostly the only two that are where they should be.
It has clarified that I need to re-evaluate my life when it comes to priorities. Bills, Homework, and Military should come to the front and join Grades and Being healthier. However I do understand having fun is a needed part of life.
Low motivation Low importance
Cleaning my room
Doing the dishes
Taking out the trash
Low motivation high importance
Going to get my oil changed
Paying off my credit card bill each month
Getting groceries
Donating plasma
Eating healthier
Studying for GRE
High motivation low importance
Checking social networks: Facebook, Tumblr etc.
Watching my shows each night they are on
Going to a movie that just came out
High motivation high importance
Checking email
Getting good grades
Studying abroad next spring
Graduate
Getting higher GPA
A goal I set for myself this semester and next semester is getting my GPA up. I categorized it as a high motivation with high importance because it is important because it’ll increase my chances for getting into grad school and it’s highly motivational because I want to go to grad school and get a Masters so I can get a job I’m interested in. It’s a goal rather than a task because it’s going to take time and effort in each of my classes. It’s going to require me to do more than the minimal amount (which I used to do) and put my studies above hanging out with friends and working more hours. This is an important goal for me because I want to go into the Industrial/Organizational field and that’s only going to be possible if go to grad school.
A second goal I set for myself is studying for the GRE. This is associated with the previous goal I just talked about, but I’m less motivated to do it because I know it’s going to be a hard test. I’ve never been great at making myself study and I know I’m going to have to come up with a schedule over summer in order to take it seriously. This is an important part of the process for getting into grad school as well.
My last goal I set for myself is making sure I donate plasma twice a week. I have been going at least once a week, but the second time you go is where you earn more money and I learned that without donating twice, donating the first time is kind of waste since it’s not enough to use. I categorized this goal as low motivating because there are days I’d rather just not trek back out in the snow and could stay home and nap instead though it only takes an hour to go there and back. I said it was of high importance because it does help people who need it and it gives me extra money on the side to do things I enjoy like eat out or buy clothes or movies.
This assignment was a good way to talk about what’s necessary and what’s not. My dad and I always clarify things into needs and wants and though my wants usually outweigh my needs, I try to put my needs first. It’s cool to lay out what motivates us and what is important to us because if something is important, it should motivate us though that isn’t always the case. I try not to set goals unless I think I can achieve them and find them to be really important. Most of my goals are centered around school as of now whether it’s saving money to pay for studying abroad and grad school, studying to raise my GPA, or studying for the GRE and they are all of high importance though not all motivating.
Tasks
Low motivation, Low importance: Cleaning my kitchen, washing dishes.
Low motivation, High importance: Filling car with gas, getting neccesary maintanence for car, working, doing laundry.
High Motivation, Low importance: cooking good meals, running, spending time with friends, finding time to be alone, watching movies, activism.
High motivation, high importance: Eating, sleeping, paying bills, meeting school deadlines.
Goals
Low motivation, Low importance goals: Establish a habit of keeping my apartment picked up, also more regularly wash my dishes.
Low Motivation, High importance: Don’t allow small car problems to turn into big problems by taking care of issues sooner, make sure to fill the tank once it hits ¼ tank so that I don’t need to rush to get gass and be late to important events.
High Motivation, Low importance: Find a way to schedule in a meaningful amount of free time to read, watch movies etc..., find time to be away from others, cook meals to eat instead of eating cafeteria food, run twice a week.
High motivation, high Importance: Create more time for schoolwork, Complete a PhD program in clinical or social psychology, go to bed early enough to allow for eight hours of sleep every night.
I do not feel that this assignment has given very many new clarifications on any issues but reinforces my belief that I need less time at work so I can better devote myself to school. It is also a reminder to me that I need to make sure I get more sleep so I have more energy while I’m awake. Due to how much I listed things such as time where I have solitude, time to engage in activities I find fun and cooking for myself, I feel the assignment did clarify that I generally need more time in my weekly schedule that isn’t being spent at work or in class. It may indicate that I need to ask for less hours at work. I feel that adjusting my behavior/schedule to have more time, would allow me to both study more and have more time to myself.
Tasks for low importance low motivation
doing the dishes
doing laundry
making my bed
Tasks for Low Importance and High motivation
finishing a project thats not due til the end of the semester (not so important as of right now)
listening to pandora every morning
checking my phone for text
facebook
Tasks for high importance and low motivation
finishing M.A applications
meeting with advisor
going to Applied psych class (feels like intro to psych all over agian)
eating healthy
Tasks for high importance and high motivation
going to the Gym
writing Abstract for research
calling my family
graduate this May
First goal I have for myself is to graduate this May, this goal of high importance to me and I have high motivation to do so. Another goal is to complete a teambuilding workshop and hopefully conduct one before this semester is over. I have been working on this workshop since the beginning of spring 2012, and the end is near! Although this goal is highly important to me, i know my motivation to complete the workshop has gone down with the introduction of another research project I have recently got involved in. Another goal that I have one of which I always set out for each semester is to pass all my classes with an A. Although I do not always reach this goal each semester striving for the A and ending up with a B is not too bad. Although this is of high importance to me, I am finding it difficult to keep myself motivated on this goal due to other things such as applying for grad school, finishing research projects, taking my GRE, and chess club. My last goal was to place at our first UNI chess opening this semester. With everything else sucking up all my motivation, I find it difficult to find time or motivation to study and practice chess skills.
I enjoyed completing this assignment, it has allowed me to reflect on a few things that I need to prioritize. Especially with some of my goals just around the corner. This exercise helped me really put into perspective that this is my last semester here at UNI.