FOREWARD

Its April, almost exam time once again for many high school and college students. Many push themselves to study for finals, to put forth their best efforts to achieve the best grades they are capable of. Now, picture a student who is not trying for whatever reason, they have completely lost (or never found) the point in trying. They might question, Why should I bend over backwards for a class that doesnt matter to me? I see no benefits of doing this. Maybe Im being overly cynical, as most students realize they need to do the work, and realize the long-term benefits of doing the work, but it just doesnt motivate them. I realize long-term that doing what needs to be done, academically or otherwise, will have beneficial payoffs for me will help me to live a healthy, disciplined lifestyle where I am financially secure enough to enjoy myself. Even better, academically doing what needs to be done is how I learn and grow into my life-long career. However, in the short term, it is impossible to see this homework assignment, or this exam, or this trip to the gym, as something that will pay off in the long term. Anything that requires effort now, where the payoff doesnt come for a sufficiently long time afterward, is very hard to be motivated to do. This story comes from a college student who is on their last leg their very continuation of higher education is at jeopardy because they cant be convinced internally to continue putting effort forth for activities that are unpleasant when the payoff, or reward, is not tangible to them. This is, at its very core, a problem with motivation. Motivation is a psychological feature that arouses one to act towards a desired goal and elicits, controls, and sustains certain goal directed behaviors. It can be considered a driving force; a psychological drive that compels or reinforces an action toward a desired goal. Motivation has been shown to have roots in psychological, behavioral, cognitive, and social areas. The first generally accepted type of motivation is intrinsic, which is motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on external pressures or desire for a reward. Students in particular are more likely to engage in the task willingly as well as work to improve their skills, which will increase their capabilities, when driven by intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation in students is characterized by: 1. Attributing their educational results to factors under their own control, also known as autonomy 2. Believing they have the skills to be effective agents in reaching their desired goals, also known as self-efficacy beliefs 3. Are interested in mastering a topic, not just in achieving good grades Extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity in order to attain an outcome, whether or not that activity is also intrinsically motivated. Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual and examples include rewards and punishment. In the example given previously, the student is most likely still performing pleasurable tasks that require effort (such as eating and obtaining comforting foods). However, they are having difficulty performing tasks that do not have tangible rewards. In this program, I have tried to combine both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation common day-to-day tasks will be rewarded with a points system (to be discussed later), but activities designed to improve intrinsic motivation are also rewarded extrinsically. Once completed, the student will have taken steps to improve their (long-term) intrinsic motivation through use of short-term, extrinsic rewards. This will provide the student with a better sense of drive and the foundations to build perseverance and discipline in their lives.

THE PROGRAM SET-UP

The program BLOCKS was designed to provide extrinsic rewards to students having difficulty with intrinsic motivation both for completion of day-to-day activities and activities designed to build intrinsic motivation habits. At its core, it is a system which assigns various types of day-to-day tasks required of a college student with a color. These tasks, upon completion, are awarded blocks. These blocks are accrued over time and can be spent on various rewards.

Tasks
Tasks are divided into various types (each type is associated with a color). These tasks are day-to-day tasks, such as attending a class, completing homework, getting an adequate amount of sleep at night, eating a healthy meal, keeping up with hygiene habits, or going to the gym. A special type of task is the silver tasks tasks associated with building intrinsic motivation in the student. This will include activities such as mindful studying (working to enjoy it, getting hyped up about a subject), mindfully doing chores, taking 10 minutes to enjoy a formerly unpleasant activity, and reading/collecting information about the unpleasant or feared activity.

Colors
Colors are used to organize types of tasks both for rewarding purposes and levels of difficulty (e.g. tasks associated with homework are much harder than tasks associated with getting enough sleep). There are 10 types of tasks, assigned to 10 colors. Red is associated with attendance-related tasks, such as attending classes, extracurricular activities, and prior committed events (such as signing up for volunteering, or setting up a meeting with a professor). This can also be used for big deadlines, such as large homework assignments (lab reports, papers) and paying bills on time. This does not include things like going to the post office, vacuuming the apartment, or hanging out with friends. It also does not include regular homework assignments. Orange is associated with social commitments like hanging out with friends, practicing talking to others, being mindful of conversations, any work towards being better at communication and social health. (Note: this is a big issue in the life of the person this is being written for they find social skills very difficult. Because of this, it is relevant for them to have a social subset; however, it may not be for you.)

Yellow is associated with emotional tasks, such as attending counseling meetings (also included in red), avoiding or stopping negative thoughts as they happen, taking time to meditate or ponder feelings, etc. Green is associated with studying and homework. This includes study times (quality) and completing homework on time. This does not include class attendance, but it does include completion of large projects (therefore, papers and lab reports would be rewarded with both green and red blocks if turned in on time). Blue is associated with healthy eating habits. This includes eating enough during the day, resisting temptation (such as going to an event with unhealthy foods), and eating proper meals. Points are also given for buying healthy foods (such as avoiding buying junk during shopping trips). The program participant would not be penalized for pre-determined cheat days. Purple is associated with completing chores, such as running errands for the day or cleaning. Pink is associated with both good hygiene habits (washing face every night, showering at least once a day, et cetera) and feminine/elegant behaviors (not being caustic, being pleasant to others, taking the extra time to look nice). Tan is associated with exercise (gym workouts or outdoor sports exclusively). This does not include bicycling. Indigo is associated with getting proper sleep each night. Silver is associated with intrinsic motivation skill-building activities.

These 10 categories will be used for all difficult tasks throughout the semester feel free to add, remove, or change the categories to your needs.

Blocks
We finally arrive at the blocks section. Blocks are actually squares, tallied in a book at the end of each day. At the end of the week (specifically sometime on Sunday), the weeks totals are tallied in each category and recorded on the specific yearly page for each color. A few notes about blocks:

Not all blocks are equal. As seen above, it requires more effort to earn a tan or green block than it would a purple or pink block. Because of this, 1 red/green/tan/silver block = 2 orange/blue blocks = 3 purple/yellow blocks = 5 pink blocks = 7 indigo blocks. Feel free to alter this ratio. Blocks can be taken away for significantly bad behavior. For example, if 3 homework assignments are missed all at once, remove X blocks from the current weeks accrual. Some rewards can only be paid for with specific color(s) of blocks. For example, since the particular student this guide was made for has a hard time with class attendance and studying/homework, a particular award can only be paid for with red/green blocks. Blocks are not to be given or written in unless already completed, no exceptions. A block must be earned before it can be filled out and (especially) claimed for rewards.

Rewards
Rewards are the motivation factor the initial drive to improve and do what needs to be done. This initially reduces the need for intrinsic (long-term, not tangible) motivation and instead focuses on the extrinsic (tangible reward) aspect. Tasks specifically designed to improve intrinsic motivation (silver task group) are assigned once a week (1-7 assignments per week) and are valued at the highest level (on par with red and green tasks). Rewards will be categorized into 4 tiers 1 being the lowest, easiest tier to claim from and 4 being the highest. Each tier will also be subdivided into 3 categories food/drink based rewards, comfort based rewards, and shopping rewards. Rewards can be claimed at any time, but the participant must already have the required blocks earned (e.g. do not claim rewards on credit). When rewards are claimed, write them down on that weeks blocks spent area. Even if the days blocks are negative after this (they almost always will be), just treat the number as a loss and subtract from the weekly total. One final rule: if you crack and use a reward without earning it, you forfeit all your points previously earned for a period of time depending on the tier. Tier 1: 1 day Tier 2: 3 days Tier 3: 1 week Tier 4: 2 weeks

SAMPLES
Monday Attendance: Class 10am-12pm, Lab 1-4pm, APO Region meeting 6-7pm Social: Hanging out with APO people 7-9pm, (Had a conversation with a stranger) Emotional: Counseling appointment, 4-5pm, (Meditated for 20 minutes) Studying/HW: Studying 8-10am, Turned in lab report Eating: (Ate a healthy breakfast, lunch, and snacks (unhealthy dinner)) Chores/Errands: Drop off letter to post office, Bring back library books, Wash dishes Lady Things: (Took the extra time to exfoliate), (Didn't wash face before class) Exercise: (Worked out 6-8am) Sleep: Slept 7 hours Intrinsic: (Practiced mindfulness while studying today)

Now we will show an example scenario for a day. Consider a Monday to-do list, derived from Google Calendar, InClass app, and physical planner. Note that we now organize our tasks based on the task sets for the program. Before we can fill in our daily chart, we need to determine what each activity is worth in blocks. During the program, we will have a guide in the booklet for reference. However, for the purposes of this example we will assign reasonable values. Below is each subset of tasks with the various values associated with them. Attendance: 1 block, 2 blocks, 1 block (note that labs are worth 2 blocks as they require more work and time). Total = 4 blocks Social: 1 block, 2 blocks (note that having a conversation with a stranger is worth more than hanging out with friends because it is more challenging). Total = 3 blocks Emotional: 1 block, 1 block. Total = 2 blocks Studying/HW: 1 block, 2 blocks. Total = 3 blocks Eating: 1 block, 1 block, 1 block, 0 blocks (note that I did not earn a block for dinner because I ate unhealthily). Total = 3 blocks Chores/Errands: 3 blocks. Lady Things: 1 block (lost a block for not washing face). Exercise: 1 block Sleep: 1 block Intrinsic: 1 block

Note where we lost blocks, and if blocks were taken away (in this example, they were not).

Next, we would fill out the blocks in their respective areas on the daily sheet. As seen to the left, blocks are filled in (with colored pencils) to signify what blocks were earned that day. Below the blocking in area is a spot for a few words. Note that I have written Be more careful with dinner! because I lost a blue block due to eating junk food for dinner. Note also that some spots look scarce. This is normal, as certain colors (tan, silver, indigo) will not have more than 1 or 2 blocks per day possible. If behavior was significantly bad for the day, feel free to remove points from previous days, making the days total negative. For this scenario, write VOID # in the row for that day (the number will be up for discretion).

Another feature of this chart is an area to write weekly totals (the corresponding underlined space underneath each task color name). Use this spot on Sundays to add up all blocks for the week. Add 1 block randomly for completing your chart. Now, we will move on to rewards. Say we wanted to claim a tier 1 reward for today a cup of frozen yogurt. This particular reward costs 8 blocks, and can be claimed using any blocks. Recall the ratio (this reward would cost 8 red blocks, but 56 pink blocks). We then decide to use all our red, green, and tan blocks for the day. Note that when blocks are used during the same week, we draw a thin line through the block. For the weekly totals, we will write the total number earned minus any used to claim rewards there is a separate column to indicate if any were used. Note that for claiming larger rewards (for example, a massage); we will end up with a negative number for the week. Subtract and continue as normal. This system may seem daunting now, but it will become more intuitive with time just keep at it!

Now, lets say its Sunday. While our totals will usually be MUCH higher, we will use Mondays total to demonstrate how to fill out the weekly form. We are also assuming 1 orange block was spent sometime during the week.

As you can see, we have earned a net total of 0 red blocks for the week, since we spent them all. We have updated the totals as well. There is a sheet for each color, and all colors must be updated on Sundays. Note that we have a net +2 orange blocks for the week, since we earned 3 and spent 1.

Review
Daily Organize to-do list based on category for the next day (evening before), update throughout the day of (if you have any additional achievements, mark them down). At the end of each day, refer to the booklet to determine how many blocks youve earned from completing your to-do list. Color in your earned blocks on the daily sheet, making sure to subtract any if needed. Add 1 block randomly (close your eyes and pick a pencil) for completing your chart on time. Add any notes you have in the space provided on the daily sheet. If you claim rewards, do so by drawing a diagonal line through the block. Add the number of blocks you spent on the weekly sheet in the provided space.

Weekly

On Sundays, add up the total blocks earned for the week; write it underneath the color name on the daily list. Write it in the provided space on the weekly list and any additional blocks used for rewards. Update the total for the week and the total YTD. Review your notes for the week and take appropriate action (for example, if youre having a hard time eating healthy dinners, note that if you dont eat a healthy dinner the next day then youre subtracting a blue block).

RED
Description
This subset is for tasks of attendance, punctuality of larger projects, and keeping commitments. This subset is not for social tasks, chores, errands, or smaller assignments.

Assigned Tasks
1. Attendance a. Classes First class of the morning 1 point total All remaining classes in the morning 1 point total All classes in the afternoon 1 point total Lab classes 2 points Exam days 2 points b. Extracurricular Meetings (longer than 45 minutes) 1 point Events 1 point Scary activities (activities that are stressful, such as an APO Region Conference) 2 points Any other extracurricular activities 1 point (must be sufficiently effort-related) c. Volunteer work Any pre-committed work 1 point Any work beyond 4 hours 2 points d. Meetings, miscellaneous 1 point 2. Punctuality a. Bills, paid on time 1 point b. Large projects for school, completed on time 1 point 3. Miscellaneous attendance tasks 1 point

Quotes
Eighty percent of success is showing up. Woody Allen If I have made an appointment with you, I owe you punctuality, I have no right to throw away your time, if I do my own. Richard Cecil The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams never die. Edward Kennedy