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Module 3: Efficiency in the Digital Age

The most useful thing I learned from this week’s module was how to avoid digital distractions. By turning off my phone’s notifications or even just leaving it in another room while I get my work done I can avoid a major distraction and be much more productive.

I already have pretty good time management skills and I actually do a few of the tips that this module provided. I always break down larger tasks into smaller, more doable ones. For example, if I have a lab report due on Tuesday, I will have myself do the purpose in one sitting, the written procedure and data section in another, then the discussion and conclusion together. This helps me from becoming overwhelmed by the report as a whole (because they are kinda long) and makes it more doable.

Although, sometimes there are long assignments that I know are going to be difficult like research essays, and I lack the motivation to work on it. There was a video from this week’s module with three tips to beat procrastination that I will use in the future when I lack motivation. The first tip was the 10-minute rule where you make a goal seem more attainable by breaking the whole task into small, 10-minute long parts. The second tip was three magical questions where you take a piece of paper and answer where you are, what you want to dom and how you will feel after doing it. Once you answer these questions this should give you some motivation to start the task because you can see that you are not busy and can identify how accomplished you will feel after it is finished. The third tip was the ultimate goal vs. ultimate desire where when you are procrastinating something, think to yourself: what do I want for my future? and compare that to how doing what you want in the moment will affect that future you want.

My advice to any student who is struggling with procrastination is to isolate yourself and do a small part of the whole task first. Typically, once I start something I will be more motivated to finish it because I know how it will feel once I do not have to worry about it anymore when it is complete.

The link to the video I referenced on techniques to beat procrastination: https://youtu.be/VA8D1cGW5Qk

Module 2: Communicating and Collaborating

This week’s lesson focused on communication and collaborating on group projects specifically in a distance learning environment.

One of the most important things I learned this week was netiquette or online etiquette. I always try to avoid public arguments but I sometimes capitalize all of my text, and I learned that this can come across as yelling even if that is not what I intended. When communicating online, always act as if you are face-to-face with that person because the two situations are more similar than what you first think.

Emailing a professor should be professional. Always use the subject line and write a brief outline of what you are emailing about. For example, if your email is a question regarding the next midterm you should include in the subject line: question about midterm 2. Also, it is important to proofread your email before it is sent. No professor can take you seriously when your email if full of typos. Finally, use a greeting and a closing. Your email should start with, Dear Doctor or Dear Professor… and it should close with: Thank you or sincerely then your name.

This brings us to dealing with group members who do not pull their weight on group assignments. A video from College Info Geek provided me with five tips to deal with these types of people. First, consider that it’s not laziness but rather a communication problem within the group. At the start of the project when distributing work among members, somebody in the group, possibly a group manager, should write down each person’s specific tasks. Second, instead of communicating through email, you should have a google doc where all of the group members can access the project at the same time. Also, in the google doc, you can have that checklist somewhere and once that task is complete, that group member can check it off. Third, pay very close attention to deadlines and possibly create mini-deadlines to keep the group as a whole from procrastinating. Fourth, if the group member that is not pulling their weight is refusing to cooperate even though you have reached out to them multiple times, emailing the professor might be a good option. This must be done early and be a backup plan because professors typically do not appreciate being bothered by student’s complaints when they have barely done anything to resolve the problem on their own. Finally, the fifth tip is to just suck it up and do the work for them. Believe it or not, this is good practice for the real world even though it is annoying and seems unfair.

The link to the video from College Info Geek is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZRyDgDlvqA