Setting goals for success

Descriptive transcript

Kelly: Hi, welcome back to Episode 2 of UTS Student Hacks. I’m Kelly.

Rachel: And I’m Rachel.

Kelly: And today we’ll be going through ways of setting goals for success! I’ll be covering the skill side of things, such as how to obtain and improve on those infamous transferable skills, and how to manage your time efficiently.

Rachel: Be sure to stay tuned in, and remember, all the things we discuss here will be linked in the show notes below.

[Upbeat music plays briefly.]

Rachel: For most of us students, success can be many things: getting a HD, passing a subject, or even committing to actually going over the learning materials to start with. And to achieve any of the above, you really need to be able to prioritise your tasks.

That can be especially challenging when you don’t even know what to start with. What I usually do is write the most important tasks down on sticky notes, an application that can be easily downloaded on my laptop.

I’ve also started to use an app called Habitica, and I’ve realised that unlike other to-do list applications, Habitica gamifies a regular to-do list and makes it fun and really enjoyable.

Both applications are really visual, and I’m constantly reminded of the tasks I should be doing.

For more scheduling and time management tips, follow the first link provided below.

Kelly: If you’re like me, I really enjoy binge-watching Netflix shows. As much as I enjoy consuming the content, I typically feel guilty after each binge-watching session.

In light of that, I have begun to allocate just one hour of my usual binge-watching sessions to watch a LinkedIn Learning video.

You might be wondering, what in the world is LinkedIn Learning? LinkedIn Learning is a branch of the networking application LinkedIn, which offers video courses by industry experts for anyone.

These videos range from using software such as the classic Excel, unleashing your creativity with Adobe After Effects and Adobe Photoshop, and business skills such as learning how to write a proper business email. And these are just to name a few.

These videos can last for a few minutes to over two hours. The two videos we recommend for you are “15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management” and “Overcoming Our Good Old Friend Procrastination”.

Rachel: Okay now, let’s say you’ve reached your goal of watching three LinkedIn Learning videos to develop some skills. Now what?

Well, making your StuVac resolutions come true has never been easier. Introducing SMART Goals, where each of the letters of the word SMART stands for something: S for Specific, M for Measurable, A for Attainable, R for Realistic, and T for Timely.

Kelly: Start with working out what you want to achieve. You need to make it something that’s possible, but you also want to make it something you have to work for.

Envision what success will look like – as in, how will you know when you have achieved your goal? Will it be when you get an HD, or when you get your dream job?

Next, think about your deadline. When do you want to achieve it?

Now, the next steps are the ones that will really help. You probably have a pretty big end goal in mind, but I find that a big end goal tends to leave a lot of room for procrastination.

Essentially, we need to work out milestones to track our progress on the way. We also need to be aware of what work we need to do to get where we want to be. For example, what skills are we going to develop?

And lastly, what are the tasks we’re going to do every day or every week to develop those skills, to meet our milestones and stay on track to ultimately achieve our final goal.

Rachel: With the sheet provided below, you’re able to write down a bunch of things you plan to get done in this period of time.

I personally have been using SMART goals to stay on track, develop my skills, and reward myself anytime I reach a big or even a small milestone.

If you feel like you want to go a step further, be sure to watch the video Moving Beyond SMART Goals for more helpful tips and tricks.

Kelly: Thank you for sticking to the end of Episode 2 of UTS Student Hacks with Rachel and I. Stay tuned for next week’s episode on Tackling Group Presentations with Arvi and Rebecca.

This has been UTS Student Hacks, over and out.

[Music plays.]