Using the Job Crafting Exercise

to Craft Your Life as a Student

Your life as a full-time student is similar to having a full-time job in that both of these
roles mean that you are expected to carry out an assigned set of tasks. In addition,
just as employees often have degrees of freedom in how they think about and per-
form their jobs, you have flexibility in choosing how you approach your life as a
student. So, you can craft your life as a student in much the same way as full-time
employees can craft their jobs.

Although the Job Crafting Exercise is intended to help employees redesign their lives
at work, the same instruction booklet can also help you identify opportunities to craft
your life as a student to be more engaging and fulfilling.This document will help you
do just that by providing you with examples of each stage of the exercise from a
student named Emily (to supplement Dr. Hansons examples from the instruction
booklet).

As a general rule, throughout the exercise, think about tasks as both the academic
and extracurricular activities that you do in a typical week.

Please Note: This document is a

supplement to the Job Crafting
Exercise instruction booklet
(pictured to the left) and not
intended to be a stand-alone
resource. Job Crafting Exercise
instruction booklets can be pur-
chased at: www.jobcrafting.org.

2010 Regents of the University of Michigan . Berg, Dutton, & Wrzesniewski . Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship 1
 PART 1: Emilys Before Sketch
Note: Emilys Before Sketch includes both the academic and extracurricular activities
that she does on a weekly basis in her life as a student.

TASK

TASK

TASK
Required Studying for Writing papers
reading exams
MOST AMOUNT OF TIME,
ENERGY & ATTENTION

TASK

TASK

TASK
TASK

TASK

TASK

TASK
Weekly Marketing
Group Club
homework project
MEDIUM AMOUNT OF TIME,

assignments meetings
ENERGY & ATTENTION

TASK

TASK

TASK

TASK
LEAST AMOUNT OF TIME,

TASK

TASK

TASK

TASK

TASK

TASK
ENERGY & ATTENTION

Reading for Going to Applying to Intramural

pleasure professors summer soccer
office hours jobs
TASK

TASK

TASK

TASK

TASK

TASK

2
 PART 2: Emilys After Diagram
Note: Emilys After Diagram depicts a more ideal (but still realistic)
version of her life as a student.

Rather than thinking about her motives, strengths, and passions with respect to a job, Emily
has listed the outcomes she would like to achieve (motives), the personal assets she could
utilize (strengths), and the activities or topics that most interest her (passions) in her life as
a student.

Notice that Emily wrote notes in parentheses in several of her Task Blocks, switched Read-
ing for pleasure and Applying to summer jobs from small to medium blocks, and added
the task of Attending free campus events and lectures.

PASSION

Going to Creative

TASK
TASK
professors writing
office
hours
Required reading

TASK
MOTIVE
MOTIVE
Good grades
Writing papers
(challenge myself Personal growth
STRENGTH
with more
creative topics)
TASK

Organizational
skills
TASK

Studying for Weekly

exams (create a homework STRENGTH
schedule) assignments
Writing ability

Role: Challenging myself

to do my best in
required coursework.

Marketing PASSION
TASK

Club meet-
Helping
MOTIVE ings (take on
others
some organi-
TASK

Stay in shape Intramural zational

soccer work) PASSION
TASK

Learning
STRENGTH
MOTIVE Group project new skills
(offer to help
TASK

Large social Applying to Be well-rounded teammates)

network summer jobs
(do more Attending
TASK

networking) free
campus
TASK

MOTIVE
events &
Reading for lectures Role: Developing as
Personal growth
pleasure a well-rounded
person outside of
the classroom.

2010 Regents of the University of Michigan . Berg, Dutton, & Wrzesniewski . Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship 3