Becoming a self-managed individual requires deep diving into one’s emotional intelligence, self-control, and leadership style to identify areas where more work needs to be done. This is an important journey that can help us grow as leaders, both on professional and personal levels. It may not be easy, but it is possible to develop this skill. Learn every soft skill related to self-management that can help you build upon it.
What is Self-Management?
Self-management is the ability to keep control over oneself. This includes controlling one’s emotions, behaviors, impulses, tasks and time. Everyone has a basic level of self-management since it is necessary to accomplish day-to-day tasks and activities. However, people with a higher level of self-management come with an increased amount of discipline and willpower to stay on top on their lives and manage more complex aspects.
Why is Self Management Important?
Self-management is critical for success in both professional and personal settings. Without it, people lack the capacity to make well-considered decisions and struggle to form meaningful relationships. Beyond its practical applications, self-management helps individuals cultivate lifelong skills that lead to improved communication, better decision making, improved clarity of thought, increased confidence, greater resilience and higher levels of emotional intelligence.
Self-management is an instrumental skill to possess, and the benefits can be seen across different areas of life:
- With self-management, you will increase your relationship management skills, helping you create stronger connections with others.
- You will have better problem-solving abilities, finding solutions to difficult situations without overreacting.
- Self-management also shifts time management and productivity levels. Directed investments towards personal goals and tasks ensure progress is made instead of getting caught up in unhelpful activities.
- Additionally, proper self-control will lead to behavior that doesn’t just make us feel proud of ourselves but inspire those around us too.
13 Self-Management Skills You Need to Succeed
Time-management
Effective time management is an essential self-management skill and a key factor in any leader’s success. It involves prioritizing tasks, controlling how one uses their time, and avoiding procrastination. Good time management allows leaders to manage their own work effectively without external help and also empower others around them to do the same. Adopting a few simple practices for good time management will help leaders stay organized and ensure that critical tasks are finished on schedule.
Self-motivation
Self-motivation is the ability to proactively take on the tasks of any given day, and follow through in order to meet goals. It involves a sense of personal responsibility and being mindful and self-aware to prioritize what matters most. Self-motivation is related to intrinsic motivation; it comes from within, and its source can be rooted in many factors. For example, it could make someone feel fulfilled when they volunteer their time. Alternatively, external motivators can come from outside forces, such as working faster for fear of reprisal for not meeting expectations. It’s critical to appreciate the work one does on a daily basis in order to cultivate natural motivation, which will subsequently inspire teammates toward greatness.
Stress management
Self-management skills are essential to good leadership; one such skill is stress management. Leaders must be able to recognize when they are feeling overwhelmed and know how to manage their stress levels effectively. This can include taking regular breaks, engaging in activities that help you relax, such as meditation or fitness, and connecting your work initiatives to larger goals. Taking the time to prioritize tasks and clearly understanding how they contribute to team success can also help reduce stress levels while allowing you to take greater satisfaction in your work.
Adaptability
Adaptability as a self-management skill demonstrates confidence and an openness to pivot when faced with sudden changes. This can be incredibly helpful for individuals leading projects in fast-paced environments where there is frequent change. For instance, it could be necessary to reorganize priorities if a new project arises that is of higher importance than the one previously being worked on. Rather than feeling overwhelmed or angry when this happens, having adaptability allows for adjusting and continuing onward with enthusiasm. Being adaptable helps create a flexible working atmosphere within any team and encourages others to have the same leadership qualities.
Decision-making
Decision-making is an important self-management skill that can help leaders effectively reduce confusion and increase team empowerment. Problem-solving and addressing issues are key steps to developing this skill. Critical thinking plays a major role in decision-making and analyzing key information when facing a problem. It’s also important to use data-driven decision-making, which uses facts instead of guesswork to make decisions so future issues are less likely to occur.
Role Clarity
Having a clear and well-defined idea of one’s role, responsibilities, and expectations within an organization is essential to self-management. Role clarity helps individuals to understand how their work fits into the system and what impact it has on the organization as a whole. Additionally, those with role clarity know who they are accountable to and who to rely on in order to complete tasks.
Goal alignment
Goal alignment focuses on ensuring that projects your team members pursue align with what is best for the organization. It requires seeing the bigger picture to prioritize which projects should be focused on and have the highest impact. Goal alignment will lead to greater success and improved team motivation when done correctly.
Goal alignment is a key self-management skill that helps team members achieve better results and become more efficient. It involves three main steps: goal setting, communication, and tracking. Firstly, setting SMART goals is essential to identify pain points, forecast growth objectives, and analyze your resource allocation plans. Secondly, it’s important to communicate these goals to the wider organization, so everyone understands how their work fits into the bigger picture. Finally, effective progress tracking allows individuals to understand their individual contributions toward the overall objectives of the organization.
Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is essential to reaching organizational goals. The goal-oriented approach involves working backward from the desired future state then determining what steps must be taken to get there. For example, one may need to coordinate with marketing for customer focus groups and assess his team’s resources and skills, as well as understand any scaling limitations within the platform in order to accomplish their objectives.
Priority-setting
Priority-setting is the process of determining which tasks or projects should take a higher priority on one’s list. It helps us focus on the most important and pressing matters first, while allowing us to block out time to address those less important items. For example, one might decide they need one day a week for three months in order to achieve their goals. By blocking off that time in their calendar and communicating with relevant stakeholders, they can shift the less important tasks further down the list while focusing on what really matters.
Personal Development
Personal development is critical for any individual, particularly those in leadership roles. To create a well-informed team, a leader must first develop themselves. Self-management skills can be improved by investing time in workshops, classes and conversations with experienced professionals people in the field. This type of expertise leads to not only career growth but also contributes to the overall success of the company. Furthermore, continuously improving self-management skills, allows leaders the opportunity to guide their teams to do likewise.
Self-awareness
Developing self-awareness is an essential self-management skill. This involves recognizing and understanding our thoughts, needs, and feelings in order to manage our behaviors more effectively. For instance, you might become aware of signs of anxiety, such as a racing heart or excessive rumination, and recognize your desire to succeed in the eyes of others – known as ego attachment. By becoming more aware of these internal processes, you are better able to manage yourself and improve your performance.
Emotional Regulation
Having good emotional regulation is an important skill for self-management. This means being conscious and in control of your feelings rather than letting them control you. When confronted with difficult or overwhelming emotions like fear, having the ability to acknowledge and understand it is necessary before being able to regulate it. By doing so, we can take a step back and assess the situation rationally in order to refocus on our strengths and better cope with whatever emotions it may bring.
Self-care
Self-care is an essential self-management skill that everyone needs to practice. Unfortunately, many people feel like caring for oneself is selfish and neglect their own needs in order to serve others. However, taking the time to nurture yourself is crucial in order to be able to give your best and contribute effectively. When you don’t take care of yourself, it can lead to exhaustion, lack of focus and productivity, which can ultimately have a negative impact on your work and life. Taking care of yourself should always be a priority!
13 Strategies to Improve Every of Your Self-Management Skill
Do you sometimes feel like you can’t manage yourself? Struggling with self-management is very common, but improving your skills in this area is possible. Building strong self-management capabilities involves recognizing when emotions are getting the better of you or when tasks are taking up too much of your time and energy. Here are some strategies that can help you build your self-management abilities.
Keep your words
Keeping your word is essential for succeeding in life; a promise made should never be forgotten. As such, it is important to only commit yourself to what you know you can handle and that aligns with your personal strengths. Additionally, it is just as important to follow through with promises—it builds trust within relationships, both with tangible people as well as internal trust—and creates increased accountability for future tasks.
Set the appropriate level of engagement
Aligning the right level of engagement is critical for a successful outcome. Those at the executive table focus more on strategy and broad principles, while individual contributors focus on implementation and execution. As a middle manager, it’s important to understand that your job is to facilitate the translation of strategic “why” into specific “what” project objectives but not to determine how those projects should be completed directly.
Focus on what’s within your control
Though it can be easy to get bogged down in our anxiety about external circumstances, we should keep in mind that we can only focus on what is within our control. By shifting the focus to our internal responses and taking appropriate measures, we will be “response-able” and better equipped to handle whatever life throws at us. Fred Kofman emphasizes making the best decision possible without becoming overwhelmed by forces outside of our power – how can you best respond in this moment?
Do not play victim
Feeling like you’re the victim of circumstances can be disempowering and unproductive. Choose to take on a player’s stance in situations instead. When you adopt this mindset, it helps you to direct your energy positively instead of responding passively. To gain perspective and make progress, consider leading with intention by coaching others, thinking up alternatives or respectfully voicing your ideas – put yourself in the driver’s seat!
Know your strengths and weaknesses
Developing self-management skills starts by getting to know yourself. Taking an inventory of your strengths and weaknesses can help you plan better and determine which tasks best suit your talents. For instance, if you know that you excel in creating solutions for new requirements but lack the ability to fix issues with existing projects, it’s wise to outsource that part of the task or find partners who possess these troubleshooting skills.
Prioritize your own work first
When you have a plan, it’s essential to know the essential steps that must be accomplished. Even amidst pressure and requests from others, it is important to craft time for your own commitments first. By reserving time in your calendar for yourself and the tasks related to your objectives, you have more control in determining which matters of lower priority attain a portion of your attention. “First things first!”
Make self-assessments
Allocating time for yourself to stay on track with your goals and plans is key. Schedule an hour each week for a meeting with yourself. Here, you can assess your progress, remind yourself of any issues or problems you will need to resolve, allow room for potential opportunities, and adjust your plans from week to week, month to month and even quarter to quarter. If it’s hard to disconnect from work while at home, try using this same practice daily in order to ensure that you know exactly what needs tending to the next day when back in the office.
Instill Healthy Habits for Long-Term Success
Nurturing yourself is an essential part of setting yourself up for success. Make sure that you keep a healthy diet and make time to exercise regularly. Additionally, get enough sleep on a daily basis – science shows that seven hours of sleep or more is necessary for optimal functioning. Taking care of your body will ensure that you have the energy and focus needed to do your best!
Give yourself a break
Taking breaks from work regularly is an important part of good self-management. Breaks give your mind and body a chance to rest, helping you stay productive throughout the day. Whether it’s for 5 minutes or for an hour, use this time to do something that brings you joy, like socializing with colleagues or going for a walk outside. Doing so will help you feel refreshed and ready to tackle any task ahead!
Introduce the habit of mindfulness
Practicing mindfulness and meditation is an excellent way to improve self-management skills. Taking just a few minutes each day to slow down, be still, and clear the mind can produce a surprisingly lasting favorable impact on our overall sense of well-being. It can help us access clarity of thought, tap into our creativity and get into a healthier state of being which will enable improved self-management skills.
Keep yourself away from coveting
The act of coveting can be detrimental to self-management skills. To avoid this, focusing on the present rather than attaching happiness and security to desired future outcomes is important. This helps prevent feelings of anxiety about achieving said aims in the present and will allow for better concentration on tasks requiring completion today. Putting energy into now will lead to more successful outcomes down the line.
Stop multi-tasking
Rather than trying to juggle various tasks at once, self-management skills can be improved by focusing on the completion of one task before moving on to the next. This allows for increased efficiency and decreased cognitive fatigue. While multi-tasking has been glorified in today’s society, it is really an inefficient drain on our time and energy that puts a burden upon completing projects successfully.
Adjust Strategy as Necessary
Adapting your self-management strategy to your specific situation is a crucial part of the process. Being able to sense changes in context, conditions and surroundings and responding accordingly helps you stay focused on achieving your goals. After taking stock of what’s working and what isn’t, consciously make the decision to shift the way you are approaching things or make adjustments if needed. This will ensure that you maintain momentum despite any setbacks or changes that may arise along the way.
Final Thoughts
Developing good self-management skills is an essential part of success in the workplace. We need to take time to evaluate our approaches to managing ourselves and recognize areas where we excel and also those that need improvement. Being conscious of our thoughts and feelings throughout the day can help us identify potential weaknesses, and understanding what we need to change helps us make actual improvements.
Pingback: 10 Essential HR Techniques For Managing Stress in the Workplace