SKILLS 4 SUCCESS UMBC COUNSELING CENTER Session I
SKILLS 4 SUCCESS UMBC COUNSELING CENTER 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
Check in Poll Welcome, we are so glad you can join us. Please check in by answering the polling questions in chat: • Rate your current energy level from 1 -5. • Describe in a word or emoticon your current mood. • • Emoticon examples : -) : -| : -( : -> : -O : -# : -P : -& More emoticon examples: • https: //www. webopedia. com/quick_ref/textmessageabbreviations_02. asp
Participation Guidelines • Self-Introductions. Please feel free to turn on your video and say Hi. • We appreciate your time with us. In order to use our time wisely, please use the chat function if you have a comment or question. You can send the chat to all of us or just the moderator. • The moderator will keep track of the chat. We will take scheduled breaks during which the moderator will address comments and questions waiting in the chat parking lot. • Please mute your microphones to reduce background noise. Feel free to leave your video on. We are happy to see you. • We understand that there can be a lot of need right now for talking and reaching out. We will post resources for where you can talk more freely. Thank you for your understanding.
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 without the fear of judgment.
Mental Health During Challenging Times Common ways you may be feeling: • Worried, sad, tired, helpless, scared, guilty, angry. • Difficulty with concentration and motivation. • Relieved, happy, lucky, rested. Signs that you might need to reach out for help, resources listed at end of the webinar: • Thoughts of harming yourself or others. • Self harming behaviors. • Substance misuse. • Trouble with daily functioning, as such eating, sleeping, getting out of bed. • Overwhelming negative feelings such as hopelessness, anger, anxiety, depression.
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Outline • Introductions • Share what time management is like for us • Time management skills: Initiate, persist, seek help • Grounding 5 -4 -3 -2 -1, Make it 3 D, Common Thought Traps • Pomodoro Method, Self Monitoring Strategy Sheet • When to say No, How to say No, Practice saying No • Play Worst Manager/Best Manager Game • Resources
What Does Time Management Look Like to Us Please share with us your answers through chat: • Why do you want to manage your time? • What steals your time now? • How do you management your time? • What works? • What doesn't? • What makes it hard? • How has Covid 19 impacted your ability to time manage?
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Skill 1: Initiate Task How do we focus and motivate ourselves, organize the task, and start to engage in a task? • Calm and clear my mind Practice grounding • Journaling • • Make it three dimensional by linking it to goals and values • Common thinking traps and negative thoughts • Relevant skills from the procrastination webinar: SMART Goals, • Shrink it, Chunk it • Do the worst job ever, then go back to edit •
Grounding Exercise 5 -4 -3 -2 -1 • Take a deep breath. Slowly breath out. • Looking around your space slowly. • Close your eyes, name to yourself five things that you're seeing. • Now name four things that you're hearing. • Name three things that you're feeling, either against your skin, or inside your body. • Name two things that you are smelling. • Name one thing that you are tasting. • Open your eyes, breath in deeply, breath out slowly.
Grounding Poll and Reflection • How do you feel? What does your energy level and mood feels like now? Please take polling test again. • What was the exercise like to you? Was there any part you liked more or was more difficult? Please share in chat. • There are many different ways for grounding, find the ways that work for you.
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Make It Three Dimensional We have to do it! 1. Important 2. Urgent
Make It Three Dimensional We have to do it and we want to do it! 1. Important 2. Urgent 3. Significant – How and why it matters to you personally. • Tie it to your long term goals and values.
Make It Three Dimensional Example Imagine you have to work on a paper. 1. Why is it Important? 2. Why is it Urgent? 3. Why is it Significant? Please share the answers with us through chat.
Make It Three Dimensional Example Imagine you have to work on a paper: Why is it Important? 1. • Because it's 60% of my grade. Why is it Urgent? 2. • Because it's due in two weeks. Why is it Significant? 3. • Because I want to graduate and work for Nintendo someday.
Accurate Thinking vs. Anxiety Thinking Accurate Thinking: • Sees both the negatives and positives • Can accurately judge difficulty of the task, the time it will take to complete, and our ability to engage in and complete it. Anxiety thinking: • Over-emphasizes the negative over the positive. • Make us forget our strength and only see our vulnerabilities. • Make the task feel bigger and make us feel smaller. • Decrease our ability to focus and concentrate, • Further increase stress and anxiety, so that we want to avoid even more.
Common Thinking Traps: All or nothing: "If I don't do it perfectly I have failed. " Overgeneralization: "Nothing good ever happens to me. " Mental Filtering: 1. Magnifying / Minimizing "I made so many mistakes on that test, I didn't get anything right. " 2. disqualifying the positive: "Those A's don't count, they were easy. " Jumping to Conclusion: 1. Fortune telling: "I just know it won't work. " 2. Catastrophizing: "I'm going to fail this class and never graduate. " Emotional Reasoning: "I feel uncertain so I must not know what I'm doing. " Should's: "I should've never done that. " Labeling: "I'm completely useless, I'm such an idiot. " Personalization: "Our group project got a bad grade, it was all my fault. "
Common Thinking Traps Poll • Which common traps do you fall for? Please take the poll. • Feel free to share specific examples in chat.
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Common Thinking Traps Example I don't understand this part, I can't do this assignment – All or nothing • Be specific: what part of the assignment do you have trouble with? What part are you okay with? I can't believe I got this wrong, I am so dumb – Personalization • Ask classmates, did anyone else got this wrong? I absolutely hate everything about writing – Overgeneralization • List out the different parts of writing: coming up with ideas, outline, research, finding examples, doing the reading, spelling and grammar • Which parts do you hate less? Order the parts according to your preference levels. You don't feel the same about every part.
Skill 2: Persist How do we sustain effort, even when faced with a mistake or difficulty (perceived or real)? • Don't be intimated by the need to be accurate. Being wrong means we get to learn. • The effort is what matters, every time you push out of your comfort zone to try hard things, your brain grows new connections and it becomes easier the next time. • Recognize and validate stress, practice self-compassion, you are trying your best. • Reward your efforts. Celebrate big and small victories.
Pomodoro Method Step 1: Use SMART method to pick one task. Remember you can only focus on one thing, so prioritize accordingly. Step 2: Set your timer to 25 minutes. Step 3: Work on the selected task. No distractions. Be completely immersed. Step 4: When you hear the timer go off, stop working. Put a check mark on a piece of paper. Step 5: Take a short break. Use a timer to make sure it doesn’t exceed 5 minutes! Step 6: After you have 4 checkmarks on your piece of paper, you can take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes long.
Skill 3: Help-Seeking How do we look for resources and ask for help when difficulties arise, rather than avoid the task or feeling defeated? Negative thinking and emotions make it harder to be resourceful and to reach out. Common thoughts that make us reluctant to seek help: • I should already know this. • I should have asked earlier. • People will think I'm dumb/lazy. • I don't want to bother anyone. • No one will be able to help. • I am too overwhelmed in the moment to look for resources.
Help-Seeking Poll • Do you experience any of these common thoughts? Take the poll in chat. • Do you have other reasons? Share in chat.
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Where to Turn for Help? Be prepared with a list of tools and resources • Learn to use time management / task management apps • Online textbooks, online libraries • Form supportive study groups, ex: you can reach to people in this webinar. • Academic services, tutors
Self-Monitoring Strategy Sheet What am I worried about? What strategy can I use? Initiation: I can't do it This will take forever I have too much on my mind Look for thinking traps Journaling Grounding 5 -4 -3 -2 -1 Persistence: This is too hard I want to stop SMART Chunk it Shrink it Pomodoro Method Help Seeking: I don't understand the assignment I forgot how to do this Read the directions again Look it up Email professor or classmate Academic advising Did I use it?
When to Say No Capability Do I have what the person want? Yes / No Timeliness Is it a bad time to say No? Yes / No Homework Is the request clear? Do they need to do more homework? Yes / No Rights Does saying no violate the other person's rights? Yes / No Relationship Is the request appropriate? Yes / No Reciprocity Does the person give me a lot? Do I owe the person? Yes / No Goals Does saying No interfere with my long-term goals? Yes / No Self-Respect Does saying Yes maintain my self-respect? Would I feel good? Yes / No Protect Your Time, if # of No > # of Yes, Say No! Sum total:
How to say No Using GIVE Gentle • • Be gentle, don't judge or belittle. It's can be hard for anyone to ask for help. Interested • • Hear them out, show interest, pay attention, don't interrupt, make eye contact. Validate • • Validate their feelings and opinions, show empathy, just because you say No doesn't mean you don't value the relationship. Easy manner • • A smile (or emoji) goes a long way.
Practice Saying No Use GIVE to refuse my request: Please pay me $1, 000 for this webinar. Gentle Interested Validate Easy
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Practice Mindfulness When We "Fail" Notice what you are doing. Note your actions, your feelings, your thoughts Nonjudgmental Just notice. No need to judge what you are noticing. • Acceptance does not mean approval or agreement, it means I am not going to spend my energy fighting reality. • Be curious • Use it as an opportunity to learn about yourself. What is going on? All behaviors are reasonable, what are the reasons behind your behavior?
Imagine Being the Worst Manager Imagine we are the worst kind of manager at a bakery, and we need our employees to make 100 chocolate cakes today. What are some techniques we might use to reach our production goal? Please share your ideas through chat.
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Worst Manager Techniques • Stress about the importance, the urgency, but does not tie it to the employees' long term goals and values. • Fall into thinking traps: freak out, blame, shame. • Lock all the doors and windows, not allow for any breaks or escapes. • Threaten with punishment. • Give up.
Imagine Being the Best Manager Imagine we are the best kind of manager, what are some techniques we might use to get the employees to work hard and reach our production goal? Please share your ideas through chat.
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Best Manager Techniques • Look out for negative thoughts – You can do this, you did it last week. • Validate – It really is a lot of work. You are doing a great job shrinking it. • Check in – How is it going? Are you having any trouble staying on task? • Breaks – Coffee and healthy snacks, stretch, chat • Nice Environment – Organized work space, good lighting, images of nature • Supportive – Words of encouragement, jokes • Reward! - Bonus, vacation time, happy hour
Popular Time / Task Management Apps • my. Homework Student Planner • Trello • Evernote • Podomoro apps: Pomodairo, tomighty • Distraction-blocking apps: Stayfocusd, anti-social • To-do list apps: remember the milk, 2 do, finish • Coach. me • Google Keep • Quizlet • Simple. Mind+
Handout • Will be made available on the counseling center website. https: //counseling. umbc. edu/workshops/skills-4 -success/
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Future Webinar Reminders • Skills 4 Successful, Session #4 Test Anxiety, Wednesday, April 29, 2020 at 12: 00 PM - 1: 00 PM • Coping with COVID Interactive Webinar • Let's Meditate Webinars • Women of Color Support Group • Graduate Student Support Group • Trans/LGBT+ Support Group • Please check https: //counseling. umbc. edu/workshops/ for tele-outreach updates.
Crisis Resources • Local • Nearest Psychiatric Emergency room is St. Agnes: • 900 S. Caton Ave. Baltimore, MD 21229 • Tel: 410 - 368 -3494 • National • Phone: • Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800 -273 -TALK (8255) • Domestic Violence Hotline: 1 -800 -799 -7233 • Maryland Crisis Hotline (24/7): 1 -800 -422 -0009 • https: //www. thehotline. org • 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/ • Text/Chat: • Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 • IMAlive Crisis Chat: www. imalive. org • Lifeline Crisis Chat: https: //suicidepreventionlifeline. org/chat/
Other Resources • Essential Needs: Call 211 for assistance with housing, food, finances and healthcare. • Public Health Media: • https: //www. cdc. gov/ • https: //coronavirus. maryland. gov/ • https: //coronavirus. jhu. edu/ Good News Media: https: //www. inspiremore. com/ https: //www. goodnewsnetwork. org/ https: //www. dosomething. org/us • COVID 19 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-business-continuity/ • 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
THANK YOU BY-SA-NC.
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