Literature Review is....

Literature review can be defined and described as follows, 

According to University of Canberra (2013) the world "literature" covers all the material published on a specific subject, such as: books, journals, newspapers, government reports, theses etc.

University of Nottingham Academic Support (1998) stated that literature review carries to your reader the existing knowledge and ideas on your research topic, and the strengths and weaknesses of these texts / trials / studies.

“A literature review is an evaluative report of studies found in the literature related 

to your selected area. The review should describe, summarize, evaluate and clarify 

this literature” (University of Queens Library, 2005)

Few basic purposes of the literature review is stated by University of Queens Library (2005) as follows;

• Provide a context for the research  
• Justify the research  
• Ensure the research hasn't been done before   
• Show where the research fits into the existing body of knowledge  
• Enable the researcher to learn from previous theory on the subject  

In conclusion, literature review is one of the most important sections in a research papers according to above information, Before writing the literature review the information or data found should filtered and sorted accordingly, and then a particular structure should be followed when writing. Literature review is more like a foundation before conducting a research

References

Canberra.edu.au (2013) Writing a Literature Review : Academic Skills Centre : University of Canberra. [online] Available at: http://www.canberra.edu.au/studyskills/writing/literature [Accessed: 25 Nov 2013].

University of Nottingham Academic Support (1998) Doing a literature review: Using your working bibliography to structure a  literature review. [online] Available at: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studentservices/documents/adviceondoingaliteraturereview.pdf [Accessed: 25 Nov 2013].

University of Queens Library (2005) Purpose of the Literature Review. [online] Available at: http://library.queensu.ca/webedu/grad/Purpose_of_the_Literature_Review.pdf [[Accessed: 25 Nov 2013]. 

What is Research?

According to Edison State College Library (2012), "Research is the investigation of a particular topic using a variety of reliable, scholarly resources." 
As stated by IFAS CALS (2008) There are three main goals of research;

• Allow you to have confidence that the conclusions you reach are justified

• Let you extend your conclusions beyond the actual people involved in your study -- to other groups, places, and settings

• Permit you to provide the most thorough possible explanation or understanding of the phenomena that you explore in your study  

References.

Edison.edu (n.d.) Lesson 1: What is Research?. [online] Available at: http://www.edison.edu/library/researchskills/Unit1/1whatIsResearch.php [Accessed: 23 Nov 2013].
University of Florida IFAS CALS (2008) Goals of Research Design . [online] Available at: http://fycs.ifas.ufl.edu/swisher/6800_12/M05_Goals_Research.pdf [Accessed: 23 Nov 2013].

Creating SMART Goals

The word SMART consist of 5 steps which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely based goals. This is one of the most effective tools used by organizations and  small business entrepreneurs. 

Specific 

• Being Specific make your goal well defined and it also make sure that you can answer the six "W" questions. Those are;

1. Who ?        (Who is Involved?)
2. What?        (What do I want to accomplish?)
3. Where?      (Where will this happen?)
4. When?       (When will this happen?)
5. Which?      (Which requirements and constraints will be part of the process?)
6. Why?         (Why am I setting this goal?)

Measurable

• Establish milestones to measure the progress towards the goal. In order to determine if those goals are measurable following questions should be asked.

1. How much?
2. How many?
3. How will I know when it is accomplished?

Attainable

• Goals should be attainable,  You must develop the appropriate knowledge, skills, abilities and financial capacity needed to achieve the goal. 

Realistic 

• Realistic means make the goal relevant to your life's reality. A high goal is frequently easy to achieve because of the high motivational force than a low goal.

Timely 

• SMART goals should have a starting point and ending point, meaning they should have a deadline or there should be a date to completed. 

 

Time Management

TIME MANAGEMENT

Time management is one of the most popular strategies we talk everyday and it is one of the most important concepts for professionals as well as academics. As academics we are in a phase where we can further more learn and develop our time management skills.

So the first lesson for us was an exercise where we were asked to fill a table regarding urgent, important, not urgent and not important daily plan of ourselves. My table was as following,

	URGENT	NOT URGENT
IMPORTANT	·         Finish BDT homework ·         Finish Selling Tantalize tickets	·         Get and appointment with COO ·         Finish drawing a logo
NOT IMPORTANT	·         Buy new pair of shoes ·         Buy a pen drive	·         Finish watch a TV series ·         Finish reading a novel

After doing this activity and after discussing about what each and everyone in class wrote for this i understood how easy life would be if we use this method. And also i understood how to fill this table properly after understanding the priorities for the day and what are the things that is not very important for me.

According to Mincici(2013), time management is understanding the value of time and use it for appropriate events which drives your daily life. This makes us think whether we actually know the value of the time. when we think of the time we just spend without doing anything, we are wasting a lot of time. So the first step of time management is accomplished if we understand that.

According to what i learnt in the class and according to Mincici(2013) the second step is to set your priorities as above which will lead to an organised calm life where dead lines are not a problem anymore.

Though so many people are lazy to start time management, once you start it you can continue it very easily and it is the best investment you can do to your academic life as well as the professional life.

References

Mincici(2013) Time Management, [Online], Available: http://nikado.net/TimeManagement.pdf [7 November 2013]