Productivity Strategies for Non-traditional Students

Abstract

Becoming an adult involves taking on additional roles and responsibilities, and with these come the inevitable challenge of facing competing commitments. One extreme and common case of this is the returning student, and because their needs are particularly dire, they are the primary focus of my research. Balancing areas of the returning students’ busy lifestyle is crucial to their success, and at the core of competency lies a strategy for allocating efficient use of their time, attention, and energy. Moreover, although time management and productivity tools abound, no single tool specifically addresses the obstacles returning students confront in managing their limited time, energy, and attention across sometimes conflicting and seemingly incompatible areas of life. As a proposed solution, I created a prototype of a mobile app chock full of productivity strategies that will benefit this target demographic—non-traditional students—among others. This paper presents key findings obtained from a usability research study testing the proposed solution with participants representative of the audience.