BRING HARD COPY TO CLASS on due date
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:
|
TASKS |
Low
Importance |
High
Importance |
|
Low
Motivation |
|
|
|
High
Motivation |
|
|
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:
|
GOALS |
Low
Importance |
High
Importance |
|
Low
Motivation |
|
|
|
High
Motivation |
|
|
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?
Provide
terms at the bottom; 500 words
I noticed that my tasks reflect more of my present life compared to my goals which extend more into the future. It helps reinforce why it is not only good to have a to-do list but also a goals list that extends far into the future like we did in the in-class goals exercise.
I found it difficult to put my tasks and goals into either the high or low categories for both motivation and importance for one big reason that the book addresses: they change over time. For example, for me, shaving is a task of lower importance in the winter compared to the summer or when I have an interview compared to when I don’t. On the other hand, for me meditating on a regular basis is a goal of high importance but low motivation when I am busy with school. However, when I am not busy, my motivation becomes higher.
I noticed that most of my goals are approach-oriented, which reflects how I am more often than not. However, one is avoidance-oriented: air travel. I am quite scared of flying even though I have done it and will do it in the future, but it does affect my life. For example, If I am traveling within the states, I will most likely drive or ride the train. I would also justify ground transportation on the grounds that it is cheaper, but that wouldn’t be the whole story.
I noticed that the importance and motivation correlated with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Some tasks like grooming are important and probably critical to successfully completing some goals, like getting into a master’s program and finding professional employment, but education and employment are buildings whereas grooming is more akin to a foundation.
I noticed that my high importance goals mostly work and health related, whereas as leisure activities are of lower importance. However, I would say that I think that work and leisure don’t belong in two separate categories of importance. I think they must modulate between one another in order for me to attain the larger, overarching goal of having a life worth living. They support and interact with one another. But for the sake of this activity, I put work and health as the higher of the two. Partly, maybe because I enjoy my work to some extent. And also maybe because the resources of a stable, somewhat enjoyable, and decent paying job will enable me to have quality leisure time. Whereas I don’t feel like quality leisure time will cause me to find a job, and I frankly, I don’t want to try to make that happen.
Terms:
Tasks
Goals
Change/time
Approach
Avoidance
Justin Moody
While reflecting on the first graph, I was confused on what the assignment was supposed to teach me. I wrote down the low importance- low motivation box as follows: Clean fridge, wash the car, hang pictures in my room, and return books from classes that I don’t actually need. These things are of low importance because they don’t need to be done right now or they would just get dirty again after I clean it. I have low motivation for these tasks because it is work that I don’t want to do.
In the high importance-low motivation box, I noticed that these tasks needed to be done, but probably wouldn’t as soon as they probably should. I listed the following tasks: Homework, reading textbooks, grad school application, and RA programs. The reason these tasks are high importance is that people are counting on me to do these things. They are low motivation because they are less enjoyable and there are other things that need to be done.
The next two boxes are both high motivation. The low importance-high motivation box had video games, music, making food, and shopping. These are tasks that I don’t really ever need to do, but I do them often. Video games, music, and shopping are all unnecessary and not super productive.
The high importance-high motivation box had to talk with family, sleeping enough, drinking water, and other human needs. I had high motivation to do these because they are important to me and can be considered required and not a privilege.
As I went through the graph with goals, a lot of the tasks just moved around; I also added some new ones that were not on there earlier. In the lowest box, I had video games, movies, and a lifeguard class that I need for this summer. These tasks are not completely necessary or important now. In the high importance-low motivation group, I put sleeping 8+ hours a night, relaxing, reading my Bible, and shopping. I moved these because they are important, but they are not always the most important thing I have to do.
In the high motivation-low motivation group, I placed book returns, oil change, and wake up earlier. I did this because my life would be okay right now without doing these now, but they need to be done soon. In the highest box, I put graduate, apply for grad school, spend more time with my family, and get a job soon. These tasks would significantly change my life now.
This assignment clarified what tasks I should be spending time on versus the ones that I do. Sometimes motivation for different tasks makes them seem more important than others. In reality, the tasks that impact health and family should be the most important to me. These things should even be more important than homework and work because, without good health, I couldn’t do these other things anyway. This assignment provided me with another way to observe the tasks I engage in and how much time I should be spending on them. I need to change these things to the most successful.
Terms:
Goal
Task
Motivation
Work
Change
Reflecting on tasks and goal is something that is very important but I, along with others, do not take the time to think about this. Doing this assignment has opened my eyes to what I need to be doing. Filling out the charts with what is of high importance and low importance was actually hard to do. There was instances where I wanted to say I had high motivation for something when in reality I have very low motivation for it. One example of this for me was my goal of getting grad school material together. This is of high importance, but I have now motivation for it. I would think this goal would be of high motivation because of how important it is. I think that the reason I have low motivation right now is because I am already focusing on other school work, and do not want to add any of that to my schedule. Another super important goal for me is getting observation hours for occupational therapy, and I put it for low motivation. I love occupational therapy and want to get hours but I am so busy that I do not plan it into my free time.
This assignment definitely cleared some things up for me, and made me realize some things. Some of my low motivation high importance can include tasks around my apartment. I have low motivation to do tasks like the dishes, or cleaning my room. I live with other girls and even if I have low motivation to do these tasks they are important for keeping my roommates happy and respecting their living space. One high motivation and low importance can be eating junk food. I always crave sweets when I know that they’re not good for me. I conveniently live right by insomnia cookie and always want to walk there and get some, when I could easily get in my fridge and eat something a little better.
I have high motivation for planning my wedding. The wedding is very important, but it is also something that I do not need to focus on as much right now. I should be focusing on graduation and applying for grad school because both of those happen before my wedding. When filling out the chart I have realized that I am putting my wedding in front of other goals that need to be focused on right now. I want to make grad school applications one of my most motivated goals.
It was actually super hard for me to think about a goal of low motivation and low importance. Any goals that I have are either really important, really motivating, or both. I don’t really see how someone can have a goal and it not be important or motivating. Overall I think this assignment has shown me what tasks/goals should be more and less important. Writing them out on paper was a good way to have everything in front of me and show me everything going on now and in the future.
Terms:
Motivation
Work
Goal
Task
Correlations
Quality
I found myself contemplating exactly how important the variety of daily and weekly tasks that I listed are. Filling out this grid for tasks had me analyzing what tasks during my day are important and which ones are not. If a task was in either the “high motivation” or “high importance” segments I found that I often make sure that I perform these tasks. The tasks that for sure get done every day or week are in both “high” segments. I also found that if a task is highly important, then I tend to make sure that task gets completed preferentially as compared to the highly motivated tasks. For myself, I tend to try and get the important tasks done first so that I can stop stressing out about them and move on to doing something that I possess a higher level of motivation for.
As for goals, I found that it was difficult to think of any goals that were of both low importance and low motivation. My reasoning behind this is that when I think of a goal that I have for myself, it is typically either highly important to me or I am highly motivated to do it. I also found that the more rudimentary the goal, or even task, the more likely it is to be in both “low” categories. This is just my experience of course.
As much as I am against the concept of a new years resolution, I still believe that we all decide upon things that we would like to improve upon or accomplish when a new year arises. I found that a few of my new years resolutions found their way onto my goal sheet and having to determine their levels of importance made my think of each goal in a more in-depth manner. One thing that came up when evaluating my goals was the concept of S.M.A.R.T. goals. This acronym stands for; specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. That being said, Some of my goals are lacking parts of the S.M.A.R.T. acronym. My realization here was that I should consider thinking through some of my goals in a more thorough manner, as some of them could use a more complete definition.
Relating this activity to the first two chapters in our textbook I found that my tasks and goals are all motivated by my needs, cognitions, emotions, and external events. I also thought about how my own personal goals have changed over time, along with the daily and weekly tasks that I complete. I thought about how my goals and motives have changed since my freshman year here at UNI to my current senior year. We don’t usually reflect on how much we have changed as individuals over time, but this activity allowed me to do so. When contemplating my own levels of motivation for certain tasks I found myself thinking about Freud’s drive theory and my “urges” to accomplish various things.
Terms:
- S.M.A.R.T. Goals
- Drive Theory
- Motives
- Needs
- Cognitions
- Emotions
- External Events
As a person with high anxiety all the time, all day long, goals are a bit of a hassle for me. Having a goal in the back of my mind can either, A) Motivate me beyond all reason, or B) Cripple me with anxiety over getting the task done. As such, I usually avoid having goals, and focus more on daily tasks. The big picture is overwhelming, and I much prefer to take Bob’s (hopefully a still relevant reference) method of small baby-steps to complete my days. So, before the day starts I jot down a few tasks that absolutely must get done. I then work until the list is finally complete and crossed off and then relax until the next day to begin a new set of tasks.
However, this listing of the two has managed to confuse me a bit. In fact, I thought the blog post about this assignment had been copied and pasted until I saw the little TASK and GOAL set in each corner of the diagrams. My personal Task list had been easy to fill out, and I knocked it off easily. Moving over to the goals side began my horrible habit of second-guessing myself. Some tasks became goals and some goals seemed more like tasks. After one or two tries I finally thought I had an exact definition in my head down. Tasks were steps to achieving a goal, whereas the goal was the overall thing achieved after completing set tasks.
For example, a task I wrote down was the RA Interview. Attending the RA Interview is a particular task that helps further my goal of getting an RA Position.
It seems rather silly looking back on it, because I fancy myself a smart person, yet I was completely thrown for a ride temporarily by these two words. I had initially put hanging out with friends in my tasks list, but then I realized that this could also be a goal. By completing my homework and chores (tasks), I could achieve the goal of hanging out with friends. However, I felt like I was beginning to read too in-between the lines for the assignment and ultimately left the friends on the Tasks side. (Also, I had written in pen, so corrections were a bit of a bother to do.)
As far as this assignment went in terms of understanding my motivation and importance towards tasks/goals, it kind of confirmed what I had already known about myself. I fancy myself to be an academic and a person of action. However, when looking at the placement of certain things on the list, I realize that is a bit of a fantasy. Homework, while still valued by my importance, was placed consistently in low motivation unless it was due in a very short amount of time (IE: Tomorrow). I was confronted with the truth that I, in my heart of hearts, knew. I’m a procrastinator, like many college students, and I was momentarily ashamed. Only momentarily of course, because I still get things done and get good grades, so perhaps that was a bit of my unconscious rationalizing to remove cognitive dissonance (#Freud).
One other thing I’d like to touch on. Since I only have access to my own personal list of goals and tasks, I have no idea if I can generalize this idea. However, I noticed that the more “fun” things tended to fall under the Low Importance, High Motivation (IE: Video games, Vacations, Relationships, Friends, etc.). Perhaps this is because I’m just the type of person who is really motivated by stupid, time-consuming things like video games. Perhaps it is a trend in humans because we really REALLY hate doing work. This is just pure speculation, but I think the latter statement there has some personal truth to it, and a few friends I talked with this about seemed to overall agree, so maybe some universality if you only count my own personal universe of me and my friends.
Terms Used:
Motivation (Pg. 38)
(These aren’t M&E Terms, but they ARE Psych. Terms)
Rationalization
Cognitive Dissonance
Generalization
This assignment allowed me to see what tasks and goals I want to accomplish and where they sit for me in terms of importance and motivation. Generally, I do not think of tasks and goals in this way and often do what I need to do regardless of my motivation levels for it. Due to this though, tasks that I have low motivation, no matter how important, are pushed back until the last minute. This creates stress and effects my overall well-being. As I continue to learn about my motivations, emotions, and stress management (a different course that I am taking), I will continue to grow and use different tools to effectively manage my time, stress, tasks, and goals.
When filling out the tasks grid, I found that the things I enjoyed the most (i.e. had the most motivation for) were tasks that were not important when considering other tasks such as homework or going to work. This is something that I was aware of before doing the grid but once I put it down and could see it charted this way, I realized that it is a issue that, once resolved, could help me be more efficient in completing other tasks. I think a good way to resolve this would be to use these activities that I have high motivation for as a reward for completing tasks that I have less motivation for but that are more important. This could be achieved through good time management and avoiding instant gratification. If I plan out my day and chart out what tasks need to be completed and when, I can determine what tasks of high importance/low motivation need to be done before I can reward myself. As long as I reward myself only after the more important tasks are completed, I can avoid instant gratification and achieve a sustainable plan to complete tasks that I have a low motivation for.
When filling out the goals grid, I found it difficult to put my ambiguous goals in to words, let alone chart them out. In class, when we were asked what goals we had for the week, or the month, or the year, I struggled to come up with anything because my goals were so general and not set in stone. I think this issue was due to me not taking the time to write out my goals and reorganize them using the S.M.A.R.T. goals strategy. These steps allow goals to be more concrete and attainable and, in turn, more achievable. Even though I was able to chart out many goals that I have for myself, it is clear that I am not actively pursuing most of them regardless of their importance/motivation level. I think this is mostly due to the fact that I am living a very day-to-day existence. I accomplish the tasks for the day they are due and do not think ahead. I especially avoid thinking about the future which is difficult seeing as most, if not all my goals, will happen in months or years and not tomorrow or the day after.
Overall, I think this assignment really helped me put things in perspective. I will not accomplish all of my tasks or goals without effective stress and time management. Also, my goals need to follow the steps of S.M.A.R.T goals if I really expect to see any change or improvement. Thankfully, we have the semester long assignment on progressing towards a goals that I believe will be very useful in working on these skills.
Terms:
Tasks
Goals
Motivation
Stress
Stress Management
Rewards
Time Management
Instant Gratification
S.M.A.R.T Goals
Depending on the time of year and what I am doing, my tasks and goals change. For example, during the school year my motivation for certain tasks are higher than they would be during the summer. I make lists of important tasks to make sure I complete them on time in order to avoid stressful situations. Goals also change depending on the time of year. My motivation for a goal may be higher during the beginning of the year, after I have made my New Year’s Resolution, than later on in the year.
Tasks of low importance and low motivation all seemed to be similar for me because they involved cleaning. I have low motivation for vacuuming, sweeping, and dusting, however, they are also of low importance to me because they do not need to be done right now and I have three other people living with me that could handle that task as well. Tasks of low importance and high motivation include binge watching TV shows on Netflix and watching my favorite Youtubers. I have other tasks that are more important but I find myself more motivated to catch up on shows and videos.
Tasks of high importance and low motivation all seemed to deal with school work. For example, I find myself procrastinating when it comes to reading textbooks, completing homework assignments, and writing papers. My motivation for these tasks seem to have gone down as I graduate in May and “senioritis” is setting in. Tasks of high importance and high motivation for me would be eating, sleeping, and being with friends and family. These tasks seem to be more needs rather than wants. I need to eat, sleep, and have a sense of belonging to maintain my well-being.
Goals of high importance and low motivation would be exercising regularly and cutting out all junk food from my diet. Exercising and eating healthy are important for my health, but I am not always motivated to make these changes because of my busy schedule Perhaps this is why my New Year’s Resolutions never last. Goals of high importance and high motivation would be finishing my last semester at UNI and finding a full time job after graduation. It is important for me to finish school, graduate, and find a full time job in order to provide for myself. I have a hard time coming up with goals of low importance because, for me, goals that I set are very important and I have some level of motivation to accomplish those goals.
Needs, cognitions, and emotions energize and direct behavior to help us become motivated to accomplish tasks and goals because they all address what is necessary and important to us.
This assignment helped me to realize what I find important what I should find important. Seeing it written on paper helped me put my priorities into perspective. For example, I should be more focused on my school work in order to accomplish my goal of finishing my last semester at UNI successfully rather than binge watch Netflix shows. If I want to be successful at accomplishing my goals, I need to prioritize my tasks and be more motivated to complete them.
Terms used:
Tasks
Goals
Needs
Cognitions
Emotions
This assignment was actually a little difficult because I do not usually write out every task that I need to do or what level of importance they are. I just write certain tasks, and then I naturally do the other tasks when they need done. I also do not write out goals for myself unless the goal is something that I really, really want to work on. I have goals of course, but I usually don’t think about them a long time in advance.
While doing this assignment, I realized which tasks I’m more likely to do and be motivated to do compared to everything else. Tasks that involved school, work, or getting out of my apartment to run errands were usually of low motivation to me even if they were really important (like schoolwork). Typically, when doing these tasks, they take me a long time to get them done because I have such a low motivation to get them done. Tasks like that also tend to make me really tired because I will put it off and by the time I get around to it I’m pretty exhausted. Tasks that had to do with stuff that I actually wanted to do like eating food, reading for fun, and watching Netflix were usually highly motivated even when they were not that important.
Goals were much more difficult to come up with. The hardest goals to come up with were in the low motivation-low importance block. I don’t know if it is because I’m more of a dramatic person, but goals are usually of high importance to me, so coming up with something of low importance and low motivation was hard. I am not much of a far ahead goal-setter, but I do have a couple that I was able to write down right away. The goals that were of low motivation were again things like school/graduation and saving money while working even though they were highly important goals. Everything else is more personal and stuff I actually am looking forward to, so I am more motivated to do them. I’m much more motivated to do research on London and get all of the documents I need because that is an exciting adventure that I am really looking forward to, but researching what career I would like is not something I’m really motivated to do.
Something I need to work on is sitting down and actually figuring out real goals that I have for myself. When we sort of did that in class, I realized how I have barely any goals or plans for the future. Doing this assignment showed me on a more personal level how little I think about the future in terms of actually setting goals that I could strive to achieve. I’m hoping that I will begin to write down goals when they come to mind and have them somewhere that I will see them often. By doing this, I will be more inclined to work towards the goals that I plan because they would be written down staring me in the face.
Terms:
Motivation
Importance
Goal planning
Personal
School
Realization
Doing this assignment made me realize a lot more how I, personally, prioritize tasks and goals, and how motivation plays a role into what (out of my list) I have accomplished this week and what I still have to do. My tasks centered around household chores, schoolwork, and my job, however my “high motivation” tasks focused a lot more on the things that I consider fun, such as buying my spring break plane ticket, or getting my passport. On the other hand, my high importance tasks focused more on schoolwork such as going to class, buying textbooks, and writing this blog post on time. As tasks are the things that I have to do, I did notice that I am a lot closer to accomplishing that list, as opposed to my goal list. My low motivation tasks included cooking, grocery shopping, buying the rest of my textbooks, laundry, and going to my research methods class. My high motivation tasks included cleaning my house, getting my passport, writing this blog, and beginning the book for my book report.
By completing these charts, I realized just how much time management I need in order to accomplish my goals. Many of my goals focus on “doing better” and traveling. For example, getting a 4.0, joining a club on campus, and becoming more organized are all on my goal list, ranked by importance. It is very importance for me to become more organized, however joining a club is lower in importance to me. My goals have also changed in the past couple of years. When I was sixteen, my goals focused on friends and fun, and now they focus on not only school, but my future as well. With the difficulty of my goals, I have learned from this assignment that I will also need to look into stress management techniques, so I don’t put too much on my plate. The rest of my goals are as follows: [low motivation] getting a 4.0 this semester, joining a club on campus, and to cut time down on my mile. My [high motivation] goals are to travel and become more organized in my everyday life.
It was difficult to decipher a list of tasks and goals to begin with, and even more difficult for me to try to rank them by not only importance, but by those I was motivated to accomplish. I kept my lists to relatively soon tasks and goals [ie, this semester], because I want to not only make a conscious effort to accomplish everything on my list, but after going through this assignment I thought a short-term goal list would help me to see improvement easier throughout the semester versus the long-term goals. This assignment has clarified the fact that, while I have my priorities in the right place, I might need some more motivational tips in order to accomplish them. I also learned that needs play a lot into finishing many of my goals. For example, I need to gradute in order to get a degree and a good job, which pushes me to join a club and get better grades in the future. I also need to be able to look at a list of things I need to do, and I cannot do that without first becoming more organized, otherwise I’ll feel even more overwhelmed in the long run.
Motivation (High/Low)
Tasks
Time Management
Goals
Importance
Change
Stress management