I am not someone
that really does new years resolutions, but a couple of weeks into 2013 I find
myself in reflective mood about my photographic studies. A catalyst for this
was an email from the OCA concerned that I had not yet submitted my first
assignment - I am approaching a year studying DPP and this was something I
promised I would not repeat after TAOP which took me 3 years to finish mainly
because of self doubt and procrastination. I have given myself similar wake up
calls in the past which clearly have not had the desired effect of me
progressing quicker so I needed a different approach. Before I could do this
however I realised I needed to be completely honest with myself about where I
am and what I need to do going forward.
Firstly I took stock
of where I am - in truth I have been working on assignment one since the
beginning of the course and have quite a bit of material already. Maybe I
should just use what I have now and get the assignment finished? After all the
assignment is not even part of the assessment.
Secondly I looked at
my blog - 8 posts in nearly a year is not a great record. I did not keep an
online blog for TAOP and one of the things I struggled with in that course was
working through the exercises successfully (I jumped around the course work quite
a lot and in truth did not even attempt a number of projects.) Also, I
struggled to show the extra reading (and thinking) I do about photography.
Having an online blog was meant to remedy this as I thought the publishing
aspect would push me to complete more - I would not want to be embarrassed with
showing my tutor I had achieved very little. Objectively though this idea was
now proving a hindrance as I am in that very position. In truth I have lots of
material collected on my computer partially written up, over the last few
months I have been telling myself that as soon as I get on top of this I can
start progressing. Truthfully these 'extras' are nice to do but not the core of
the course - I need to focus myself on working through the exercises and
assignments as a first priority and add these other items as and when time
allows.
Finally there is the
thorny issue of time management. I have a busy life with a demanding job and
family life, however, the truth is I do
not make the best use of the time I do have available. Being busy is merely the
excuse I use - after analysing the time I do have available I found that I have
at least an hour each evening, probably more, which I could be using for
reading, writing up exercises and research or even (shock horror!) taking
pictures! Along with that I have 6 hours free on my day off while my children
are at school - I just need to find a way that any errands I need to complete
are out of the way so I can make best use of this time as this is the absolute
key to me being able to make real progress. Combined with this I do not have a
plan for timescales to complete exercises and assignments. I have spent some
time mapping this out on a calendar - the targets are quite broad but I think
achievable. Each week I will spend 5 minutes understanding whether I am on
target or not. If manage to achieve these goals then I will be sending DPP for
assessment in November.
I know from the last
6 months of TAOP during which time I completed most of the work that I have the
drive to be able to complete the course within the parameters I have given
myself. The key to success for me is gaining momentum - once I begin with my plan
I am sure the work will begin to flow.
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