Vocational Rehabilitation Library Toolkit

A collection of free concentration games from MentalUP.
Description: "MentalUP Concentration Games are designed by academicians to power up your brain skills! They are used trustfully by schools and thousands of families."

"...Keep reading to learn more about research-backed methods to help improve your concentration. We’ll also go over some conditions that can affect concentration and steps to take if trying to increase concentration on your own just doesn’t seem to help." From Healthline.

"Boosting your memory and concentration at work can increase productivity and improve the quality of your deliverables. Regardless of your job title, you can benefit from honing your concentration. Although concentrating is a valuable skill, it does take practice. In this article, we’ll discuss how you can improve concentration and ways in which you can apply it to work-related tasks." From Indeed.com (December 30, 2020).

"Cognitive exercises are a great way to improve and preserve cognitive function after an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). Here are some of the best cognitive exercises for ABI you can do at home to sharpen your mental skills." From the International Autoimmune Encephalitis Society.

"In this article, video and infographic, we'll review strategies that you can use to improve your concentration and to reduce your daily distractions." From MindTools.

• Link to infographic: Improve Your Concentration: How to Stay Focused Despite Distractions

"Depression can actually change your ability to think. It can impair attention and memory, as well as the ability to process information and make decisions. For some people, it also affects cognitive flexibility (the ability to adapt goals and strategies to changing situations) and executive functioning (the ability to take all the steps to get something done). The good news is that with proper treatment, the cognitive effects of depression improve for most people." From the University of British Columbia, Department of Psychiatry.

"University professors from New York and California designed and developed three digital games – available online and in the iOS and Google Play app stores – to help its users’ brains work more efficiently. ... Evidenced through a series of research studies, these games can help users boost memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility." From New York University.
Note: Includes links to access the games mentioned in the article.

"This new fourth edition is designed for use with adults who have suffered a stroke or other brain injury or who are affected by the aging process. While the fundamental format covering such skills areas as visual scanning, reading, observing, information acquisition, listening, memory, and abstract reasoning has remained the same, each of the individual training sections has been revised and updated with additional exercises and teacher suggestions for the teacher-learner team."
Note: This is a book that is mostly available from college libraries in Oregon. Local public libraries may need to place an interlibrary loan request to get a copy.

Description: "This video explains the SMART method of career planning through setting realistic and well-defined goals."
NOTE: This is a multi-part video-based training module.

Description: "Establish structured goals to achieve more in less time. Develop both performance and outcome measures. Develop an action plan with next steps and milestones. Evaluate multiple goals as to pursue those most relevant to your success."

Description: "You will learn what the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework is and why it is useful. You will learn how to communicate the value of your work to your colleagues by writing strong, metric-driven OKRs. You will learn models for how goals can cascade and practice cascading goals on your own. You will write value-based key results with different types of metrics that demonstrate the results you are driving for the business. You will learn methods for documenting your goals. You will write your own value-based OKRs."

This is a list of courses from Udemy that all fall under the category of "goal setting." The filter is set to "free," but more courses are available if you select the "Price" option under the Price filter from the left-side menu

A blog post by Shannon Byrne focused on goal setting exercises for teams.

A list of goal setting exercises from Elaine Mead at PositivePsychology.com.

"Whether long-term or short-term, goals are necessary for driving your business in the right direction. To innovate, excel in customer satisfaction and produce exceptional products and services, you need to set proper goals. Games offer an entertaining way to train your team to set effective goals at work. In this article, we explain the importance of setting good goals and list some good goal-setting games."

A brief review of SMART goals, with links to videos and worksheets for additional information. From San Diego Community College District's San Diego Continuing Education (adult education division).

Information about goal setting and SMART goals from the Social Security Administration's Ticket to Work program.

A blog post by Becky Rhoades focused on the steps for SMART goals as they apply to job seeking.

This is an all-in-one efficiency handbook, with suggestions to help you identify key action items and take the necessary steps to accomplish your long- and short-term goals. Learn how to get a firm handle on your schedule to keep efficiently moving forward with your professional plans.