Essay on SMART Goal, Barriers and Strategies To Overcome

Due to a change in lifestyle amongst different people, it has come to their attention that they need to set some healthy goals as they try to be physically and emotionally healthy. As the world continues to feel the wrath of the COVID-19 virus, learning has now shifted from face to face learning to online studying. This has resulted to confusion since most of us have to adapt to the new normal; therefore, we are likely to spend most of our time on social media as we try to connect with our friends digitally. Increased screen time has led to an irregular sleeping pattern and staying indoors, meaning we are less likely to exercise physical exercises.

In my case, I usually chat with my friends late at night, which has affected my performance in routine activities due to lack of enough sleep. My parents have also noted an increased dependency on my phone. Therefore, complaining about my sudden lack of interest in family activities. Over the next four weeks, I intend to have a fixed morning routine and get sleep for a minimum of seven hours. Sleeping for eight hours without distraction allows a person to dramatically improve his/her productivity levels in the workplace or at school.

Starting on 15^th November and ending on 15^th December, I will dedicate eight hours during the night from Monday to Friday for a good sleep by setting the alarm to wake me up after eight hours have elapsed. To avoid distractions during the night, it will be my duty to turn off the phone and leave it in the living room when going to bed. It is biologically proven that the human mind is mainly active during the morning hours (O’Connor et al., 2020). Therefore, before sleeping, I will write down the activities schedule for the following day and put that list where I usually put my phone. According to Kodarlikar and Umale (2016), neat and tidy working places have been identified as productivity triggers due to increased contentment and confidence.

Like in any scenario, when trying to implement any change, there are certain impediments that one may face along the way. Instead of giving up on the whole change process, a person should be creative enough and develop measures to navigate through the change process. One of the obstacles that I am likely to face is the backlash from my friends. Some friends will begin to question my commitment to our friendship due to the decreased level of communication. Before starting the behavior modification task, I will first inform my friends about the path that I will take in the next four weeks and seek their understanding and support. I will also propose that instead of texting via phones during night time, we set aside a few hours during the day where we can catch up and, at the same time, engage in some sporting activities.

Unwillingness to forgo social media related activities is a bitter pill to swallow, considering that I belong to a generation that focuses on different social media platforms. I intend to deactivate all my social media platforms during my four-week journey to wellness, and by doing this, social media related distraction will be eliminated. Apart from deactivating the social media accounts, I will uninstall all the applications from my phones that might tempt me to go back to the old ways.

My attitude will also be another cause of concern. Instead of envisioning reduced phone activities as an act of suffering, I need to see it as a course meant to enhance my mental and emotional wellbeing and that I need to put all my focus and commitment to achieve the already written down goal. To improve my commitment to achieving this goal, I intend to write down on a piece of paper and share it with at least three close friends who will hold me accountable to lose track of my goal.

References

Kodarlikar, M., & Umale, V. A. (2016). Healthy Workplace Environment: Impact on Employee and Organizational Performance.

O’Connor, D. B., Thayer, J. F., & Vedhara, K. (2020). Stress and health: A review of psychobiological processes. Annual review of psychology, 72.