Chapter 3
Setting Effective
Goals and Making the
Most of Your Time
Questions to Consider
• What does the research say about goals and
success in college? Does having a goal lead to
better grades? Make it more likely that you will
stay in college?
• How can you know if you are on track with your
goals?
• Does multitasking work?
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Questions to Consider
• How can you make more time for academic
tasks?
• When you have several assignments, what
should you do first?
• If you are a procrastinator, how can you change
this habit?
• Do you focus on the past, present, or future? Is
this linked to success?
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Morisano, Hirsch, Peterson, Pilh, &
Shore (2010)
Research Question:
Does a goal setting
intervention help
students stay in college
and perform better
academically?
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The Study
85 college students
who were
struggling
academically
Goal setting
intervention
(2 ½ hours)
GPA, Survey
questions about
withdrawal rates
and emotions
Generic
intervention
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The Findings
GPA higher for goal group (2.91)
as compared to general
intervention (2.25)
Goal group less likely to drop
classes
Goal group had fewer negative
emotions
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The So What Factor
• Effective goal setting is linked to college success
• Worth investment of time to learn how to set
effective goals
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Creating Effective Goals
Specific
and
Measurable
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Challenging
yet
Realistic
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Long and Short Term Goals
Long Term Goals
Short Term Goals
• Take time, 6 months or
more
• Example: Graduate from
college with a 3.0 GPA
• Targeting short period of
time
• Specific and detailed
• Example: Earn a 85% or
higher on the sociology
presentation next week.
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Monitoring Progress:
Establish a Timeline
See figure 3.1 in Chapter 3 of Student Success in College: Doing What
Works!
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Self-regulation
• “Check up” on
yourself
• Monitor progress
made thus far
• Make adjustments as
needed
Mike McDonald/Shutterstock.com
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Time Management
See “Your Time” summary box in Chapter 3 of Student Success in College:
Doing What Works!
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Time Traps
Activities that take up a
lot of your time
To reduce time spent on
time traps:
• Raise awareness
• Self-impose time limits
• Use fun time traps as
rewards for must-do
activities
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Multi-tasking
• Multi-tasking is when
we switch back and
forth between tasks
• Many of us engage in
multi-tasking, but it
doesn’t work well
• Students who instant
messaged while
reading took 22-59%
longer to read, not
including IM time
(Bowman et al., 2010)
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Single Task It!
See “Single-Task It Strategies” in Chapter 3 of Student Success in College:
Doing What Works!
Stop
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George, Dixon, Stansal, Gelb, & Pheri (2008)
Time diary and questionnaire
assessment of factors associated with
academic and personal success
among university undergraduates.
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The Study
231 undergraduate
students completed
questionnaires
GPA; Personally
defined success
Goals; time
management,
intelligence, selfesteem, healthy diet,
spirituality
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The Findings
Two most powerful predictors of success:
Clearly defined goals and effective time
management
Successful students spent more time
studying, woke up earlier in the morning,
and spent less time on “fun” activities
Other factors connected to success:
eating healthy, having a computer, high
level of spirituality
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The So What Factor!
• Creating effective goals is important
• Managing time well is important
– Devote more time to studying
– Decrease time spent on “time traps”
– Consider getting up earlier in the morning
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Benefits of a Time Log or Diary
• Visually captures how
you currently spend your
time so you can see
where improvements are
needed
• Identify time traps
• Knowing how long tasks,
particularly academic
ones, take can help you
plan better
• Look for consistency with
your goals
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Sample Time Log
Monday
8:30 a.m.
9:00 a.m.
9:30 a.m.
10:15 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
12:30 p.m.
1:30 p.m.
2:30 p.m.
4:30 p.m.
5:15 p.m.
6:00 p.m.
7:00 p.m.
7:45 p.m.
9:00 p.m.
9:15 p.m.
11:30 p.m.
Woke up, showered
Ate breakfast, watched TV
Drove to school
Arrived on campus, hung out
in College Center
Class
Talked on phone
Lunch with friends
Went to library to study, Read
and took notes on pages 112129
Did math homework
problems 1-4
Drove home
Computer/internet
Dinner with family
Computer/internet
Read notes from today’s
psychology lecture
Watched TV
Went to bed
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Reading Time
See “Time for action 3.4” in Chapter 3 of Student Success in College:
Doing What Works!
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To Do Lists
Not so effective
Effective
• Do research paper for
psychology
• Read textbook for
history
• Study for biology exam
• Go to library and locate at
least 5 sources for
research paper
• Write an outline for
psychology research
paper
• Read and take notes on
pages 55-75 in history text
• Create flashcards with
terms for biology exam
• Complete practice quiz on
the biology support site
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Organizational Tools
See Table 3.2 in Chapter 3 of Student Success in College:
Doing What Works!
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Prioritizing Tasks
• Refer to your syllabus
– Nature of assignment
– Due date
– How much it “counts”
• Task difficulty
– Work on easy material if you have less than 1 hour
– Start on difficult material if you have more time
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Taking Action and Avoiding
Procrastination
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1. Spaced practice- do a
little bit each day
2. Convert big
assignments into
smaller more
manageable ones
3. Reward yourself
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Time Perspective
• Past, present, and future
time perspectives
• Future is most connected
to academic success
– Practice delaying gratification
– Keep long term goals visible
– Find connections between
actions today and future
consequences
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Time and Your College Schedule
• Consider the demands on
your time
• Think about being full
time- students who take
more courses are often
more successful
• Consider course difficulty
• Avoid too many courses
on the same day
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Tom Peterson, Middlesex County College
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