Personal Improvement Process (PIP)
Personal Improvement Process (PIP)
Introduction
There are instances when bad behavior and habits can hinder personal success. This is one way to failing in life and there are just two possibilities than can be achieved if an individual does not live to reach failure. One is that an individual will remain the same or life will keep depreciating. The latter possibility is worse because beside an individual failing himself or herself, other people are also caught up in the failure. This is the reason that an individual should embrace positive change and having a personal improvement program is the correct way to change.
The main problem that I have is the submission of assignment. I always give in my work late and no matter how the professor instructs me against the behavior I’m never up to time for early submission. It is only after the deadline that I get the inspiration to work on the assignment and submit it. This is because there are consequences and since they work to reduce my grade, then I just have to meet the call. I believe there are methods that I can use in order to avoid the last minute rush and submit my assignments in time.
Background
Self-assessment shows that there are a number of factors that hinder my early submission of homework. These factors are brought about by lack of a push to reach the goals. This means that I have to strive to reach goals that I set to improve my use of time. Setting up a time management schedule is a sure goal to ensure that I achieve the goals I set and therefore it is important to up hold them.
There have been various occasions in which I have missed important marks just because of late homework submission. Getting used to the behavior has ensured that I get bad reviews from my professor and it is time that I consider a better method of operation. It is because of these reasons that I lay down an important self-assessment schedule that will help me keep and manage time effectively.
My mission therefore is to strive to improve my homework submission time. The response time to homework has to be improved and I look forward to accomplishing my assignments before embarking on other activities. The importance of having a mission statement is that there is need to up hold it and ensure that the stipulations are followed so as to improve myself for the better.
Factors that contribute to late submission of homework
Absence of a schedule – lacking a work schedule is the main factor that leads to lateness. This leads to confusion of the tasks and activities given in a day. There are instances when
Procrastination – this is the tendency to postpone events and given tasks. I tend to always postpone the working on assignments as I wait for a later time to work on it. This is another problem that weighs down on time management goals and hence slow down my response rate to assigned tasks. Procrastination is the main factor of laziness which should be corrected before it becomes a habit.
Time wasters – these are the things that contribute mostly to my wasting time. This can be events that should be done during leisure time or even the need to be with friends. This is the time that I spend hanging around and doing other not so important activities. Therefore eating into the time that I should be working on my assignments.
Lack of motivation- this is one of the factors that controls my lack of doing assignments in time. The lack of motivation is triggered by the factor that assignments are usually difficult and that they require extra efforts in order to be effectively done.
Tardiness – this is the state of being sluggish or slow in carrying out activities. The best method to counter the effects of tardiness is to
Other priorities – this are other factors that may come in the way of handling my assignment. This can be emergencies or even family involvements. No matter what they are, they lead to my lack of doing and submitting homework in time.
The table below shows the factors that lead to my inability to submit homework in time and the level as compared to each other.
The problem of lacking a schedule is the main culprit to non-compliance with homework submission time. It means that checking this factors is important in ensuring that the deadline is beat and therefore no conflicts can be encountered.
The figure below gives a graphical representation of the factors and their level.
The above figure shows where corrective efforts have to be put in order to solve the problem of time management failure. The problem seem to be many and that the top three hold a higher percentage which put a strain on the time management capabilities. It is therefore important to highlight these factors so that a solution can be enacted and implemented.
Methods to uphold improvement
There are a number of ways in which I can improve my setting up of goals to ensure that I reach the time set targets. There is need to invest more in time management strategies so as to ensure that my educational obligations are met. It means that I have to go out of my comfort zone to ensure that I work diligently within time so that I can improve my relevance to keeping time. The lack of a time keeping habit is the cause to hopelessness.
Three factors are the main proponents that lead to the inability of achieving my timely obligations and goals. This consists of lack of a schedule, procrastination and time wasters. The elimination of this factors can lead to an improvement of my response to time. Therefore, I have to ensure that I deal with them since they are the main burdens to my time objectives. The elimination or managing of the three failures will greatly improve my self- improvement capability as they will cancel out the other factors. For example, the creation of a task schedule will cancel out the significance of time-wasters.
Causes Chart and the Analysis
The diagram above highlights the most prevalent areas that affect my ability to manage time and submit my homework on time. The factors that are lack of a schedule, time wasting and procrastination can be evaded so as to ensure that I regain a good education centered behavior. There is need to build a schedule of tasks and this is through the use of the Pareto decision making method. It means that I have to analyze the causes that bring about lacking a task schedule, procrastinating activities and the causes of time wasters.
Lack of a task schedule is because I have not invested in making one. This means that tasks can be done for a longer time than they require and this only works to disadvantage other tasks that have to be accomplished by me. Therefore the first solution is to have a task schedule with the correct time limits to indicate a specific task and the stipulated time to be taken. This way, it is easier to manage the time taken to do and accomplish a certain task. The other importance of task schedule is to give strictness and importance of a task. It means that a certain task has to be done as long as it is in the schedule. Therefore having a schedule is a primary need to ensure self-improvement in time management.
Procrastinating of activities is another way of losing on time. It means that laziness can set in and prompt me to hold onto a single task that may not be as important as the task I postpone. It means that the task on the task schedule has to be handled at its opportune time. This saves time wasting by ensuring that the task handler pays the required attention to a task. It is therefore important to avoid procrastination as it encourages the piling of tasks.
Time wasters are mostly non-important tasks or involvements. They are those tasks that are usually done in leisure time and they include chatting, cleaning or laundry, sports or watching of movies. These tasks are important but the time to be done has to be specific so as to avoid straining other activities. It means that there is need to refer to the task schedule because it will give direction to the time for leisure and the allocated time. Self-discipline should be involved in every task and decision. It is one method to ensure that time management goals are reached since I will tell myself to move to the next time when the time reaches.
Summary and Discussion
There is need to invest effectiveness in task accomplishment so as to reach the deadline of my daily and long term tasks. This should be done by the involvement of time management strategies that will work to reduce over indulgence in a single activity or even the skipping of other activities. This is because every activity that is incorporated on a schedule is important. Therefore in order to be at peace with time, the crafting of a schedule is important to ensure that each activity is given a time slot.
I will use the Pareto method of assessment to handle important tasks by looking more at the 20% of the solving metrics to solve 80% of the problem. This method is important in that it highlights the most important aspect of a problem by highlighting the percentages. There are a number of tasks to be done in life. Therefore having a schedule is vital to ensure that each task is included in the daily involvement.
Histogram showing improved task following behavior
It is apparent that I have improved my time management habits by following a strict guideline as stipulated in the schedule and not to procrastinate or tackle non-important tasks.
Improved time management and control mechanisms
References
Croft, C. (1996). Time Management . London: International Thompson Business Press.
Talbot, M. (2003). Make your Mission Statement Work: Identify your Organizations Values and Live them Everyday. Oxford: How to Books.
Thorton, A. C. (2004). Variation Risk Management: Focusing Quality Improvement in Product Development and Production. Hobokem: John Wiley and Sons.
