Project management and motivation series:
6: Monitor your progress
As you learn about the subject, you will need some markers of
- What are the stages of learning?
steps? chapters? concepts? and what is the sequence?
short term goals? These should be as specific as possible.
- What skills am I developing as I learn?
can be used in other situations and should be recognized!
- What have I learned that
Will I need to retrace my steps
to find alternatives?
- Does something not make sense?
involve "a moderate amount of discrepancy or incongruity" are beneficial
because they stimulate curiosity
- How am I rewarding myself?
We can reward
ourselves for effort or tasks!
- Am I thinking positively with my goals in mind?
Make several copies of this list.
Fill in blanks only as
you have information, but mark N/A for blank entries.
Post entries regularly and frequently on wall board or in your notebook.
This page assumes you have continued with
project to a conclusion,
(or need to analyze why you did not!).
It is important first to recognize that if you have not
in learning what you first wanted, that you have not failed.
Success is not always determined by quantity of knowledge.
not all meant to be brain surgeons, soccer players, plumbers, or even
But we can recognize that some subject matter can be
gained/enjoyed in other ways: consulting a specialist; watching or
refereeing a game; hiring a plumber; using a spell checker.
Success in learning is also determined by an evaluation
of your process, and what you have learned from this
Consider these questions, and answer from
your experience in the project.
With your experience, you will be
able to build on it and do even better next time.
- Was the subject matter as important or interesting
you first thought?
- What intrinsic motivations did you satisfy?
- Was the process of learning that you chose effective?
- Did you learn anything you didn't expect?
- Was a mentor/monitor helpful?
- Retrieve your extrinsic motivations.
did they play in your learning process?
- Was this self-motivation exercise effective?
Project management and motivation series