Motivation is important in that it helps us get work done. The expectancy theory shows that effort to perform equals expectancy, the belief that effort will lead to good performance, multiplied by instrumentality, the belief that good performance will lead to outcomes, and valence, how much the person values those outcomes. Therefore, in order for me to do well in my studies, my expectancy, instrumentality and valence needed to be high in order to lead to a high effort to perform. The equity theory, in which the outcomes are rewards, is also another concept important to motivation.
After learning these concepts in class, I used them in my everyday life by changing my study habits in order to be more productive and have good effort and outcomes at the same time. As a result, I rewarded myself by doing my favorite activities, such as going online or talking to my friends, after I study instead of before or during studying, which was what I had been doing previously before learning these concepts. This way, it allowed my effort to perform to increase because I wanted to get the work done as soon as I could in order to do what I like to do. It led me to a higher valence, or valuing the outcomes more, so that I would be able to do well in class and be rewarded at the same time.
Changing my study habits through motivation and rewards was useful because it helped me study better and finish assignments sooner, and it also allowed me to do work more thoroughly because I had more time to finish assignments, as opposed to when I used to wait until the day before to work on assignments, which gave me less time to make corrections if I did a problem wrong. However, it was different from what I was used to, therefore it took a lot of time before I became adjusted to doing my work first. However, due to the fact that it was very challenging, it made me feel that the challenge was more successful at the end because I was able to change my habits for the better through...