Photo by Mpho Mojapelo on Unsplash
You created a learning goal and now it’s time to make a plan for completing that learning goal. Over the next few essays we’re going to talk about each of the planning topics from yesterday’s essay.
We’re going to start by talking about our most precious resource - time.
As I noted yesterday, you may have more questions to answer as you build your plan, but everyone needs to answer at least two questions about time:
- How much time do I have to meet this goal?
- How will I make time in my life to meet this goal?
The first is about deadline and the second is about priority.
Many learning goals have deadlines - either self-imposed or actual - attached to them. I wanted to complete my doctorate by the time I turned 30 (my dissertation was written but not yet defended so I didn’t make that). That is a self-imposed deadline. There was no penalty to not meeting it - however it served as excellent motivation. One of the doctoral students I’m coaching is nearing the seven year deadline on their dissertation start date. This is an actual deadline - and why they have employed the services of an academic coach.
I like to determine the deadline first so that you can use it to work backwards to understand how much you have to actually make time for in your life - our second question.
I started my doctorate just before I turned 28 which gave me just under three years to complete. This meant I had to hustle so nearly everything in my life took a back seat while I dedicated two years of my life to complete this milestone.
How have you made time in your life and used time as a motivating factor in meeting your learning goals?