Skills 4 Success Session I Procrastination Session II

Skills 4 Success Session I: Procrastination Session II: Stress Management Session III: Time Management Session IV: Test Anxiety Session V: Motivation Session VI: Getting Through Finals Presenter: Helen Ding, Moderator: Ishita Arora UMBC Counseling Center

welcome Please turn on your video and audio if you're comfortable. We’d love to see you and to hear you during this time of physical distancing. During the presentation, I will ask you to participate at various times. If you have questions or comments outside of those times, please use the chat function. We will take scheduled breaks for the moderator to address all the chats. Please share with us your name, major, and one fun fact.

Workshop parameters This workshop hopes to address academic challenges, including those created by COVID 19: ● ● We want to acknowledge the ways that the crisis has affected your study skills. With your feedback, we hope to provide skills that are relevant to the current situation. This workshop is unable to properly support personal concerns about COVID 19. Other places where you can talk ● ● ● about the crisis and receive proper support: UMBC counseling service: 410 455 -2472 Maryland Warmline: 1 -877 -794 -7337 (PEER) Lyf, a social media app where users share highly personal posts the fear of judgment. without

Mental Health during challenging times Common emotions you may be feeling and might want to talk about with someone: ● ● Worried, sad, tired, helpless, guilty, angry. Difficulty with concentration and motivation. Signs that you should reach out for help: ● ● ● Thoughts of harming yourself or others. Self harming behaviors. Substance misuse. Trouble with daily functioning, as such eating and sleeping. Overwhelming negative feelings such as hopelessness, anger, anxiety, depression. Online Mental health screening

Questions? comments?

Motivation Outline Welcome Emotion scientist vs. emotion judge Motivation using fear vs. motivation using reward Extrinsic reward vs. intrinsic reward Practice reframing extrinsic rewards New mindfulness skill Five Daily Mental Hygiene Resources

What’s motivation like for you? How do you motivate yourself? What works for you? What doesn’t work? What do you hope to learn from this session?

How do you feel when you can’t get motivated? Check all that applies: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. What’s wrong with me? I must be lazy. I wish I could be more motivated. I should just want to do my work. I hate feeling this way. I just need to make myself do it! I wonder why I am resistant. I have legitimate reasons for not wanting to do it.

Emotion scientist vs. emotion judge An Emotion Scientist. . . An Emotion Judge. . . Is open, curious, and reflective Is critical, closed, and ignores emotion Views all emotions as information Views emotions as “noise” Is in learner mode (investigates) Is in knower mode (makes attribution) Wants to get “granular” Clumps emotions as good or bad Looks for data (evidence) Goes with intuition (often biased) Has a “growth mindset” Has a “fixed mindset” - Marc Brackett

Explore our resistance Think of an academic task you really don’t want to do. List all your feelings and thoughts about it without judgment. Feel free to share or not share. Go over your list. Did you learn something new about yourself? Is there something on the list that you wish wasn’t there? Is it reasonable that it is there? What did you learn about what you like and don’t like?

Questions? comments?

Make Motivations 3 -D 1. Will doing it make me feel better? I will get immediate personal benefit. 2. Will doing it make a difference? I have control over the outcome, my efforts will make a positive impact. 3. Can it be successfully done? I have the skills and tools to do it.

Motivation using fear Ex: If I don’t study, I won’t graduate. - The immediate personal benefit is relief from negative feelings - such as anxiety and guilt. It can be stressful because it keeps you in FFF mode. Too much stress can make it hard to perform optimally. If you study in order to avoid bad things, taking a break can feel guilty, one bad grade can create a sense of danger and increase anxiety. It can be more effective in getting you to not do something rather than getting you to do something.

Motivation using Extrinsic reward Tangible, concrete, external rewards, often offered by somebody else. Examples:

Motivation using Extrinsic reward Tangible, concrete, external reward, often offered by somebody else. Examples: ● ● ● The school will continue my scholarship. My parents will be happy that I got into medical school. A fortune 500 company will hire me. My friends will think I am smart. I am going to eat candy for every page I read.

Limitations with extrinsic rewards Long term payoffs are too far in the future ● They don’t bring immediate benefits. Can be more about other people ● May not be what you want. Is it really what other people want? Lack of agency creates stress. ○ ● Hedonic adaptation ● We get used to the high that external rewards bring, will need bigger and bigger rewards to motivate us.

Motivation using intrinsic reward Doing the task itself results in positive feelings, such as fun, passion, sensory pleasure, love and connection, sense of accomplishment, spiritual well-being, etc. It is not connected to anything external or separate from the task. It’s connected to our internal beliefs. Examples: I run because I enjoy getting faster every time. ● I volunteer because service is important to me. ● I draw because I like being creative.

intrinsic rewards lead to better results The reward comes from within so there is no external pressure, less stress hormones. It encourages paying close attention to the task, understanding the big picture and being detail oriented. Obstacles are seen as opportunities for creative solutions rather than frustrating failures. It’s a practice of mindfulness, when you focus on the moment, you are more likely to enter the state of ‘flow’.

Intrinsic rewards require self knowledge What are your values? ● Goals: the things you want to accomplish VS ● Values = The kind of person you want to be, the way you want to feel. Think of something you like to do, what do you like about it? Think of something you gradually learned to like, how did it happen? Exercise to find your values: https: //www. cmu. edu/career/documents/my-career-pathactivities/values-exercise. pdf

Questions? comments?

How to reframe extrinsic rewards to be more intrinsic Reframe an extrinsic reward so that it produces positive feelings while you are doing the task. 1. Give yourself agency, make yourself the subject. Why do you care about this extrinsic reward? *It’s possible that you don’t care, give yourself permission to explore your resistance, it’s part of your growth. 2. Tie the task to one of your values. How will studying contribute to this value?

Example of reframing extrinsic to intrinsic Extrinsic: My parents want me to get good grades. Intrinsic: I care about this goal because I love my parents, When I study I am honoring my parents and their hard work. I care because I value harmony, when I study I am working towards reducing conflict with my parents and helping to create a more calm and peaceful home environment. I care because I value independence, when I study I am learning to make good decisions and be more responsible, when I study I am becoming an adult who is ready for more independence.

Practice A fortune 500 company will hire me: My friends will think I’m smart and hard working:

Practice A fortune 500 company will hire me: I value competence. When I study I am investing in my future self. My friends will think I’m smart and hard working: I value social acceptance and respect. When I study I am working towards becoming a role model.

When to use extrinsic rewards For manual tasks. ● Ex: a dollar for every mile you run. For standardized tasks. ● Extrinsic rewards encourage us to narrow our focus and maximize efficiency. To acquire new skills or knowledge. ● Once the skills are acquired, they become more intrinsically rewarding. As feedback for job well done, to signal a job well done. ● Not as a bribe or to control, to boost ● Share your efforts with others, invite your feelings of competence. their praise.

Questions? comments?

My effort will make a difference Will I have control over the outcome? Will my efforts make a difference? ● Ex: The pandemic will make it impossible to find a job. ● Predicting the future is a common thought trap. We can’t predict the future. ● If you see a problem, are you also seeing the possible solutions? Remember to look for hope in all situations. ● Being optimistic about an unknown future helps with motivation. Use a task management / time management app that shows you are making progress. Focus on effort, just learning to persevere is an important skill for school, work, life.

I can do it Review past webinars: Do positive self talk, SMART goals, create a support system, plan for breaks. Prepared for relapses: When it happens, observe without judgement. Review the SMART goals, was the task realistic? Try again. The process doesn’t have to be perfect for there to be results. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. It takes an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic.

New mindfulness skill Describe your thoughts and emotions as they occur. ● ● Add “I am having the thought” in front of a negative thought. Add “I am having the feeling” in front of negative feelings. Example: I don’t know anything. ● I am having the thought that I don’t know anything. Let's take turns practicing. What did that feel like?

Benefits of Describing Gives you some distance and relief from negativity. Gives you a chance to look for common thought traps. Encourages you to have self-compassion. Reminds you that thoughts and feelings come and go.

Self care -5 Daily mental hygiene 1. Check in with yourself ○ How are you feeling? What are you thinking? How are you vulnerable today? 2. Social connection ○ make one genuine connection everyday, tell someone something real about yourself, it can be an accomplishment, it can be a challenge, it can be something mundane. 3. Be kind ○ Say or do something kind for yourself and/or someone else. 4. Remember your values ○ Do something aligned with your values and/or goals. 5. Practice mindfulness ○ Being mindful helps you to find peace in the present moment.

Questions? comments?

Crisis resources National Phone: Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800 -273 TALK (8255) Domestic Violence Hotline: 1 -800 -7997233; https: //www. thehotline. org Text/Chat: Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 IMAlive Crisis Chat: www. imalive. org Lifeline Crisis Chat: https: //suicidepreventionlifeline. org/ chat/ Local Nearest Psychiatric Emergency room is St. Agnes: 900 S. Caton Ave. Baltimore, MD 21229 (Tel: 410 - 368 -3494) Maryland Crisis Hotline (24/7): 1 -800422 -0009 Baltimore County Crisis Response Community Hotline: 410 -931 -2214 Grassroots Crisis Intervention Telephone Hotline: 410 -531 -6677 Please see our website for additional information: counseling. umbc. edu/services/crisis/

Other resources Essential Needs: Call 211 for assistance with housing, food, finances and healthcare. COVID resources: https: //counseling. umbc. edu/resources/covid-19 resources/ UMBC Tech Support: (410) 455 -3838, https: //my. umbc. edu/help Academic Support: https: //academicsuccess. umbc. edu/asc-businesscontinuity/ Free College Student Mindfulness Support Group – Fridays 2 – 2: 45 PM: https: //wbma. cc/freeandreducedfeetelehealthservices/

UMBC Counseling center The counseling center is providing services remotely, including: ● Individual support via phone and video ● Tele-outreach through webinars and online workshops Please visit https: //counseling. umbc. edu/ for details Phone: 410 -455 -2472