Strategy

Setting Goals and Prioritizing

MIT students talk about setting goals and prioritizing their time to deal with challenges such as test anxiety, work overload, and making progress on their dissertation.

View Transcript

Teresa: Pacing Yourself

Teresa shares how she learned to take breaks rather than trying to power through on difficult and exhausting assignments.

View Transcript

Vyshnavi: Breaking Down Big Goals

Vyshnavi shares how focusing on small, doable steps rather than large, overwhelming goals helps her make progress.

View Transcript

Tim: Writing to Surface Priorities

Tim explains how his habit of writing in a planner and notebook helped him clarify and prioritize how he spends his time.

View Transcript

Tim: Working With Your Body Clock

Tim describes how he takes advantage of his natural rhythm by doing his hardest work in the morning when he is most mentally sharp and saving simpler tasks for later in the day.

View Transcript

Jennifer: Taking Small Steps

Jennifer talks about setting goals to make progress on her dissertation.

View Transcript

Mary: Setting Goals and Prioritizing

Mary talks about setting goals for studying to prepare for qualifying exams.

View Transcript

Kanika: Setting Goals and Prioritizing

Kanika found prioritization to be an effective strategy for dealing with overload.

Related Strategies