The Weber State University Davis campus offers Student Success Workshops throughout the semester. Most of them are on Saturday, but there are others offered throughout the week.
The hour-long workshops are held at the Davis campus and are taught by multiple faculty members. They are free of charge for students, teachers and community members.
The workshops are done on a variety of subjects to help students be successful in their studies and other areas of their lives.
This past workshop was on time management. Kim Fale, a Davis Student Services faculty member, taught it.
“A lot of time management has to do with getting up in the morning and deciding you are going to make the most of your day,” Fale said.
In a video during the workshop, Steven Robbins, a successful business man, expressed that everyone, regardless of background, education or circumstances, has the same amount of time. People can become millionaires, or sink to the depths of poverty, all based how they spend their time.
The class explored procrastination. It stated that there were three different umbrellas under which procrastinators fell.
The first umbrella included perfectionists who felt that if they weren’t going to be able to do the job perfectly, they shouldn’t even try at all.
The second group of procrastinators included people who fear limitations. They are afraid that they might fall short on a project due to inability to complete it. If they procrastinate, they can blame the fact that they waited too long to start instead of personal shortcomings.
The final umbrella under which procrastinators fall, is the fear of facing an overwhelming task. People push the task off for so long, fearing the enormity of it, instead of breaking it up into smaller manageable tasks.
“I’ve been procrastinating a lot. Lately I’ve been waking up at crazy hours to finish my work and submitting things at 11:55 p.m. when they are due at midnight,” said Ronnel Sangria, a senior who attended the workshop. “I’ve been telling myself, ‘All right, this has to stop.’”
The class then taught ways to stop procrastination. Fale had students evaluate how they used their time each week. She also taught how to decide which tasks to do based on urgency and importance.
Fale stressed the importance of taking time each day to schedule specific time blocks for specific tasks that need to be done and sticking to that schedule.
In a video Fale showed, it made the point that making a schedule is like making appointments with yourself. When students make appointments with teachers or bosses, they keep those appointments because they are accountable to that person.
Schedules are no different. It is important to be accountable to yourself and keep those appointments you made to do things like study or start a project.
“I wanted to see how I used the hours of my day,” McKaylee Brooks, a freshman, said. “I wanted to learn how to plan those extra hours so that I wasn’t using my days for nothing.”
The class explored goals. Fale taught a method called SMART Goals. SMART is an acronym for important things to keep in mind while making goals.
“S” stands for specific, stressing the importance that goals are clear and concise.
“M” stands for measurable. Having a measurable goal insures that students can track their progress.
“A” stands for action-oriented, which means that students can make a game plan and map out what exactly they will do each step of the way to achieve their goals.
“R” stands for realistic. If students want to achieve their goals, they must set goals that are attainable given time restrictions, resources and other circumstances.
“T” stands for timely. This step stressed the importance of deadlines so that students do not lose focus or motivation to complete their goal.
“We all have the same amount of time, so why are some people more successful than others? It all boils down to the decisions, choices and planning that you do in your life,” Fale said. “(Time management) is a lifetime skill and I feel that it is so critical that students understand the skills involved.”
