Instructions for Mini-Paper #2
For Mini-Paper #2, you will be focusing on self-improvement.
1. Identify something in your life that you could be doing better – something related to psychology in some way, and that you are willing to share with me. Don’t try to tackle something huge! Ideas include:
1. getting more/ better sleep
2. time management (in general, or for studying)/ making a schedule
3. eating healthier
4. drinking more water
5. quitting a habit (e.g., nail-biting, knuckle-cracking — you *could* try for something bigger like quitting smoking, but this is a pretty short timeline for that)
6. de-stressing (but be more specific than that)
7. exercising more
8. setting up a morning/ evening routine
9. and more!
2. Once you have chosen your topic, make a plan for how you could improve. Try to be realistic! You might want to look back at the sleep section, or check out Ch 10 on Health, or Ch 6 on classical or operant conditioning.
3. Track your progress over the course of 4 to 6 days.
4. Reflect back on your progress. How have you improved? (sometimes that might be just being more aware of a habit you’re trying to eliminate) What could you do better to improve more?
Paper Outline
1. Describe the issue you are going to try to change.
2. Describe your plan for change.
3. Describe your progress over the next several days (what has been challenging? what easy? are things improving?)
4. Reflect on the process of trying to change (it’s often really hard!!). What have you learned from this experience? How much did you improve? Are there other steps you could do in the future that might help more?