Project management and motivation series:

6: Monitor your progress

As you learn about the subject, you will need some markers of progress:

• What are the stages of learning?
  Are there steps? chapters? concepts? and what is the sequence?
  Are there short term goals? These should be as specific as possible.
• What skills am I developing as I learn?
  These can be used in other situations and should be recognized!
• What have I learned that won't work?
  Will I need to retrace my steps to find alternatives?
• Does something not make sense?
  Tasks that 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?
  Avoid avoidance!

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.

7. Review

This page assumes you have continued with
your learning project to a conclusion,
(or need to analyze why you did not!).

It is important first to recognize that if you have not succeeded
in learning what you first wanted, that you have not failed.
Success is not always determined by quantity of knowledge.
We are not all meant to be brain surgeons, soccer players, plumbers, or even spellers.
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 process.
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
  as 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?
  Were communications good?
• Retrieve your extrinsic motivations.
  What role did they play in your learning process?
• Was this self-motivation exercise effective?

Project management and motivation series

Introduction/project identification | Intrinsic and extrinsic values |
Developing the project and selecting your mentor |
Monitoring your progress and project review |
Time management | Avoiding procrastination | Self discipline |
Prioritizing tasks | My to do list | Problem solving