Individual Reflective Journal: Enhancing Study Skills for Personal and Professional Development

This individual reflective journal discusses the experience of gaining knowledge in the university and enhancing study skills like communication skills, research skills, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. The author reflects on the effectiveness of these academic skills and the impact they have had on their personal and professional development. The journal also includes an action plan for further development of skills such as time management, language skills, writing skills, and data analysis skills.

INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIVE
JOURNAL

Table of Contents
PERSONAL REFLECTIVE JOURNAL.........................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

PERSONAL REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
I have been able to gain and enhance my study skills while attending the university in
general. It has been helpful in my overall development and has provided me with various
benefits. The university experience has been special for me to gain better understanding of
various academic skills which are vital in my personal and professional development. This
reflection will be prepared with the help of Gibbs Reflective Cycle which is an effective
framework used to structure the learning and experiences efficiently in order to gain useful
knowledge from those aspects (Adeani, Febriani and Syafryadin, 2020). By examining these
experiences and individual is able to make effective changes in his or her current approach
towards development. It is a useful method which will also be helpful in determining the
effectiveness of these academic skills gained by me in the university days. The cycle contains
various elements which are as follows:
The experience of gaining knowledge in the university has been a crucial experience of
my development journey. I have gained various study skills like Communication skills: verbal
and written, research skills, teamwork and networking, problem-solving skills etc. which have
been useful in developing my personal and professional abilities to give better results. These
aspects of my university learning has a major role in my employability ability and gaining
recognition in life. These academic skills are a significant part of the personal development
process and have a major contribution in my overall success. They provide better assistance in
dealing with the tough problems which have created barriers in the development process and
have a major influence policy formation and strategy making.
I had a feeling of pride and happiness while my university days as I was weak in these
skills earlier but after gaining knowledge in the university in order to improve my overall
performance. It was a satisfactory feeling as I was able to understand the topics efficiently and
get good grades in my assessments. These academic skills have a vital part in the overall
performance development which may help to bring effective changes in the approach towards
pressure handling and problem solving (Rose and et.al., 2020). Earlier, I used to get frustrated
due to my inefficiency to complete my projects and assignments efficiently. It had an adverse
effect on my performance and reduced my self-confidence. With the help of guidance and
support of my teachers and professors I have been able to prepare better strategies to achieve
productive results and perform better than my peers. It has inherited a feeling of completeness

which has been helpful in my overall development. This feeling has been great in expression my
university experience which has been amazing and have been helpful in developing my crucial
skills. This aspect of learning various skills will always be important for me as it has reduces the
possibility of errors that have arisen in my performance. It has been a joyful feeling in order to
enhance these crucial abilities effectively.
At first, it was a tedious task for me to achieve efficiency in adopting these skills. I was
unable to gain desired results which had a major impact on my mindset. With the help of
continuous practice of the communication skills I have been useful in connect effectively with
people and having positive impact on them. By managing my time effectively and completing
projects within time constraints have been useful in increasing my efficiency in performing tasks.
My problem solving skills have been enhanced by consistently solving tough problems and
monitoring my mistakes in order to achieve better output in the industry. These skills have been
useful in performing at my job and increasing my overall impact on my job role and achieving
success in the industry.
These skills have been as crucial aspect of my professional and person development
which has a positive impact on my performing ability in my current and previous employment.
Some skills have been difficult for me to inherit such as the effective use of ICT, writing skills,
leadership, public speaking etc. These skills are important in gaining better results and will
require due consideration from in order to gain better understanding of the job roles (Muratori
and et.al., 2021). I have to give more consideration to these skills in order to get better
opportunities to achieve growth in my job and get better appraisals and recognition from my
superiors. It will be beneficial for me to enhance these skills and prepare better strategies for
upgrading my performing ability in order to achieve better results in my job role.
I have been able to develop these academic skills with the help of the support and
guidance provide by my teachers and mentors. It has been able to develop better ability to
increase my effectiveness in performing better. I had motivation to increase my productivity in
order to gain better results which has been a force that has been able to encourage me put more
efforts towards learning. My friends and peers have been kind and supportive in my learning
process which has helped to develop these skills. With the help of all these aspects I have been
able to gain better understanding of the academic skills and convert better opportunities in my
employment. This experience has been effective in developing my crucial skills which have been

a prominent aspect ion my overall development. My university experience has been productive
for increasing my interest in learning and development which has been helpful for me at various
places. I have been able to prepare effective strategies for the development of my performing
ability and it has been able to provide better assistance for increasing my core competencies. The
knowledge of team work, effective communication, time management etc. have given me
adequate methods for improving my current performance.
The main reason that I found problems in developing these skills has been my lack of
concentration and dedication towards learning which is crucial for developing in order to gain
competitive advantage. I had a very casual approach towards learning and have always tried to
find out easy ways to get rid of the problems. But my university experience has transformed this
approach and provided me with better understanding of the significance of academic skills in the
personal and professional development. It has been able to provide me with a better
understanding of my role and assist in increasing my contribution towards my job roles and
duties in my employment. These skills are a vital part of my development which has helped me
to grow and achieve success.
I have been able to learn many aspects of personal and professional development with the
help of my university experience. It has been helpful in increasing my confidence over my
significant skills which are crucial in order to achieve success in various areas of life. My ability
to gain better results in my employment has been improved by constantly working upon these
academic skills in order to gain benefit. This process of learning has provided me with better
alternatives to solve similar problems effectively. It has been able to provide confidence to me in
order to achieve better results while performing crucial role in any workplace. These skills have
been effective in increasing my expertise in managing my work efficiently and gain better
understanding of leadership roles. I have been able to connect better with people and have a
positive impact over them.
These academic skills are helpful to make effective decisions in similar situations and
choose better options to deal with difficult problems and gain benefit in the society (Brandlistuen
and et.al., 2021). This experience of gaining knowledge in my university has been useful to
develop crucial skills and have a positive impact on people I am working with. I will try to
develop the required skills which I still don't have completely developed and make effective
changes in my current strategy in order to enhance my skills. The skills such as effective

language skills, writing skills, leadership, public speaking skills are one such abilities I want to
enhance in my personality and gain advantage in my employment. These skills will be helpful in
gaining better opportunities and converting better results into my favour. I will look forward to
change various approaches in my current process of personal and professional development
which may be helpful in achieving better results.
There are different skills which are beneficial in improving the performance in personal
life and the workplace (McCormick and et.al., 2020). These skills may have the ability to
enhance my approach while facing different situations. I would like to develop my writing skills
which are important in order to write effective articles and reports which may help to gain
advantage in various stages of my life. These skills may help me to express my feelings in a
better way by explaining each and every detail through writing. With the help of effective
writing skills I may be able to prepare better strategies and plans in order to improve my
performance at a personal and professional level.
Time management are the crucial skills that I want to enhance in order to complete tasks
efficiently. It may be helpful increasing my productivity for performing the tasks appropriately.
By developing these skills I may be able to produce better results and increase my impact on the
superiors which may be useful in getting appraisals and promotions in my job. It may be an
effective way to reduce the stress of the work which may be a major reason for my reduced
performance. The time management may help in improving the career opportunities in order to
grow and gain advantage in the industry (McCormick and et.al., 2021).
I will improve my language skills as it may be helpful in grabbing more opportunities and
may be beneficial for my overall development. By learning different languages, I may be able to
get better chances to work in different countries and improve my overall performance. The
language skills may have a significant impact on my personal learning as it may help to gain
understanding of different cultures and traditions. This knowledge may be useful in enhancing
my overall approach towards performing the crucial tasks. I want to develop these language
skills during my academic learning as it may give me lifetime benefit to communicate better with
people.
I will focus on developing my data analysis skill which may be helpful in increasing my
understanding of the raw data that is available. By analysing the data properly I may be able to
prepare better strategies and plans in order to enhance my overall performance. It may be a

useful skill for me to gain competitive advantage at the workplace and may reduce mistakes in
my work. With the help of data analysis skill, I may be able to increase the efficiency of my
work and I may be able to produce better results. It may be useful for my personal development
as well because it may increase my ability to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various
aspects of my decision-making.
ACTION PLAN
What do I want
to learn?
What support
and resources
will I need?
What do I have
to do?
How will I
measure success?
Target date for
review?
Time
management
skills
I will require
books and internet
in order to make
effective plans
I have to
complete my
daily tasks and
projects according
to the strategy
which is prepared
by me
I will monitor my
success by
measuring the time
which is taken by
me to complete a
task
22/06/22
Language skills
I will need
support of a
professional,
specific books
and internet
I have to learn the
new language and
practice it every
day in order to get
a proper
understanding
I will give tests and
assessment in order
to measure my
success in
enhancing this
ability
18/05/22
Data analysis
skill
Data sets,
analytical tools,
internet will be
needed
I have to analyse
data on a daily
basis from
secondary and
primary
information
available
I will check the
accuracy of the data
with the help of a
professional in
order to increase
my productivity
04/01/23
Writing skills I will need books I have to write I will ask my

and test papers
better content and
check the spelling
and grammatical
errors for
increasing
efficiency
seniors to evaluate
my writing and give
relevant feedback
for improving this
skill
16/07/22

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Adeani, I.S., Febriani, R.B. and Syafryadin, S., 2020. USING GIBBS’REFLECTIVE CYCLE IN
MAKING REFLECTIONS OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. Indonesian EFL
Journal. 6(2). pp.139-148.
Brandlistuen, R.E. and et.al., 2021. Gender gaps in preschool age: A study of behavior,
neurodevelopment and pre-academic skills. Scandinavian Journal of Public
Health. 49(5). pp.503-510.
McCormick, M.P. and et.al., 2021. Long-term effects of social-emotional learning on academic
skills: Evidence from a randomized trial of INSIGHTS. Journal of Research on
Educational Effectiveness. 14(1). pp.1-27.
McCormick, M.P. and et.al., 2020. Time well spent: Home learning activities and gains in
children’s academic skills in the prekindergarten year. Developmental
Psychology, 56(4), p.710.
Muratori, P. and et.al., 2021. Testing the efficacy of coping power universal on behavioral
problems and pre-academic skills in preschoolers. Early Childhood Education Journal,
pp.1-13.
Rose, H. and et.al., 2020. What drives success in English medium taught courses? The interplay
between language proficiency, academic skills, and motivation. Studies in Higher
Education. 45(11). pp.2149-2161.