To succeed academically, professionally, and personally, we need to manage our feelings, behaviors, and thoughts in ways that contribute to our goals. However, before we can accomplish specific self-management goals, we need to be able to identify our feelings, behaviors, and thoughts, distinguish among them, and recognize their interrelationships. Part One addresses these topics by presenting a practical model of self-management that will be used for all applications throughout the book.

part two CRITICAL THINKING AND MOTIVATION

In order to use and benefit from the ABC Model introduced in Part One, we need to be able to think critically and motivate ourselves consistently. These fundamental skills are introduced here because they are intimately connected to each other and are repeatedly applied to practical areas discussed throughout the text.

Part Two describes how to develop cognitive and motivational skills within the context of the ABC Model. Students will learn how to identify and change thinking patterns and beliefs that influence feelings, behaviors, and personal motivation.

Students will also appreciate the essential components of self-motivation, and be able to apply this knowledge to increase positive motivation, reduce negative motivation, or resolve motivational problems.

part three METHODS FOR CHANGE

Many people claim their lives would be better if only circumstances were somehow different. Perhaps the focus of complaint is a boss, an instructor, or a roommate. Maybe it is the job, the school, or the neighborhood. So often the obstacle to the "good life" or betterment of society seems to be centered on other people or outside circumstances. Yet, when our focus is on external changes, attention is diverted from those areas of our life over which we have control. All too often people seek changes in the world around them when in fact they would be better off beginning with themselves.

We can improve our motivation, time management, study habits, relationships, self-esteem, and other areas of our lives by changing the ABC interactions that comprise them. Whether we are dealing with a particular problem or just trying to improve our well-being, the ABCs are involved. Once we have identified the precise feelings, behaviors, and thoughts, the interactions among them, and determined the component we want to change first, we can then apply the methods introduced in the following chapters. In doing so, we can increase upward spirals, decrease downward spirals, and achieve at a higher level overall.

Research has shown that some techniques for changing the ABCs are more efficient and effective than others. It is also true that certain methods are more effective when targeting a particular ABC component. For example, relaxation is best suited to change affect, behavior modification to change behavior, and thought stopping to change cognition. However, because of the close interaction among the ABCs, a technique effective with one component will usually impact the others. For instance, the calming effect of relaxation can also help us think clearly and act prudently.

As with any skill, proficiency takes practice, but once mastered and used regularly, these change techniques can improve the quality of our lives dramatically. Part Three of Self-management for College Students presents methods for change that when used regularly can enhance our quality of life.

part four ACADEMIC SUCCESS

Part Four builds upon this foundation by focusing on the skills that promote increased involvement in academics. What it means to be a college student, study techniques, and the broad areas of self-esteem and assertiveness are the topics we discuss next.

Chapter 12 begins with a discussion of the ABCs of being a college student — those thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that tend to motivate students toward or away from learning. Chapter 13 is devoted to strategies for improving learning. Test preparation, note taking, writing and reading are among the topics covered. Yet, because confidence in one's ability is so critical to success in college, we move on to the topic of self-esteem in Chapter 14. Self-esteem is organized and explained in practical self-management terms that can be used as part of an ongoing process of enhancing self-confidence.

Once we know how to manage our self-esteem, it is much easier to be forthright in expressing ourselves, which is the basis for relating meaningfully to others — including professors. But to do so most effectively requires us to be assertive, another self-management skill discussed in Chapter 15. The skills introduced in Part Four provide the groundwork necessary for addressing the many opportunities and challenges that confront students on a daily basis — including the practical problems dealt with in Part Five –– managing time, eliminating procrastination, and academic motivation.

part five ACADEMIC PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Part Five of Self-management for College Students is dedicated to the practical problems all students face at some point in their college careers: time management, procrastination, and academic motivation. Managing these areas of our lives requires us to draw upon all that we have learned about self-management. For example, the resolution of many students' time management and procrastination problems is just as much a matter of self-esteem and assertiveness skills as it is sticking to a schedule. In Chapter 16, the essential aspects of time management — establishing values, goals, and a time schedule — are discussed. Chapter 17 will help students understand what procrastination is and the motivation that supports it. In Chapter 18 the general principles of motivation discussed earlier are applied to the specific problems of maintaining and regaining academic motivation. After completing these chapters, students will know how to apply an ABC analysis to the resolution of problems with time management, procrastination, and academic motivation.