As the workplace is becoming increasingly complex, the need for individuals to be self-managers has increased. The idea of being responsible for your work output appeals to many people because they want to control their work activities instead of being told what to do. Most people prefer to practice self-management because no one wants to be bossed around or dictated how they should behave by others.
What is self-management?
Self-management is having a sense of responsibility to take charge of your actions and decisions. It’s about being organized and proactive instead of reactive when something goes wrong because you are ready for anything that may happen in any given situation.
It includes making sure that you do your work on time while also respecting deadlines from others.
Self-management is closely related to self-control. People who control themselves show more conscientious behavior. They can pay attention, plan, discuss their thoughts and feelings openly with others, and effectively regulate their emotions
What is an important part of self-management?
In general, knowing yourself is considered to be the most important aspect of self-management. Knowing who you are, what motivates you, and what your strengths and weaknesses are is the first step in the process of managing yourself.
Once you know yourself well, you can use this knowledge in everyday life situations to make choices that suit you. It becomes easier to make decisions that are good for you.
You can then focus on taking action to achieve your goals rather than being held back by fears or barriers. Ultimately, self-management is all about being in control of your own destiny.
How do you demonstrate self-management?
Overall, you demonstrate self-management by exercising your inner power to make choices and take charge of your life, rather than allowing other people or circumstances to do it for you. There are specific ways you can show self-management skills in the workplace.
So, here are 13 examples of self-management skills:
1. Setting personal goals
Good examples of self-management skills include setting a personal goal to ensure that you stay focused on your long-term objective and not just what is happening at the moment.
The purpose of setting personal goals is to have some measure against which you can assess yourself. A personal goal allows you to see whether you are making progress or not. It provides direction or guidance to success.
Personal goals are also vital for self-esteem as they indicate that things are going well for you.
2. Listening to yourself
Listening to yourself or self-reflection is an introspection, a self-examination, and a self-evaluation which is key to self-management.
It means watching your feelings and thinking about them without being negative or, it is being aware of what you are doing and why and making conscious decisions about how you want to proceed.
Listening to yourself also allows you to capture the moment when you make a bad choice and change direction before it’s too late.
It becomes easier to make decisions that are right for you. And when you are clear on what you want, it’s easy to communicate your needs to others.
Read also: 15 Examples of Taking Ownership
3. Staying in the present moment
Staying in the present moment is to keep the focus on what’s happening now rather than worrying about the past or future. It is about not letting your mind wander into the past or drift off into the future.
Whenever you notice that your mind is drifting off and start worrying about the future or reminiscing, gently bring it back to what you’re doing right now.
People with great self-management skills stay in the present moment because they are always mindful of the small details of what’s happening around them.
It’s not about keeping your head down but paying more attention to what is happening right now and how it can affect you positively and negatively.
Setting boundaries between personal and professional time is a necessary part of the self-management process. It’s important to know what you want from both your work and outside of work. Doing so requires an awareness of your boundaries and limits.
You need to take care of yourself and disconnect from work and recharge. Setting boundaries will help prevent burnout because you have a healthy balance between life and work.
Don’t reply to work emails or answer phone calls after working hours. You should feel comfortable being at home without worrying about getting a call from work.
5. Self-motivation
Self-motivation is a key self-management skill. In other words, self-motivation is the driving force behind self-management. It gives you the ability to set your own goals, identify your priorities and then act on them.
Some people are naturally more motivated than others, but every person has the power to motivate themselves.
Passion, drive, and initiative are all qualities that can help you become successful in life. Self-motivation can help you to control your life. But it also can make you a better leader of others and yourself.
6. Being your own coach
There is no better way to learn something new or skill than through doing. Self-coaching begins with asking yourself what you need from a coach and then making a list of actionable items to help you reach those needs.
Coaching yourself is similar to having a personal trainer that encourages and pushes you to do your best.
So, be your own coach — you already understand the work environment and know more about your goals, strengths, and weaknesses than any other person.
Also read: 23 Characteristics of a Good Boss
7. Planning ahead
Planning is an important factor for success. It involves preparing in advance and making the right decisions to ensure that your goals are met on time and with minimal effort. It’s about understanding what you want to achieve and how you will get there.
Planning gives you a sense of control over your workload and a good idea about what you have to do. Planning doesn’t have to be a stressful process either. It just requires a little bit of time and effort to map out what needs to happen next or during the week.
Yes, a lot can change during the day, but identifying these changes early can help you deal with them rapidly because good planning gives you flexibility and control over your work.
8. Adopting an environment of autonomy
Autonomy is a sense of being in control of your actions without any outside interference. It is the power to determine what to do, say, think and feel.
Adopting an environment of autonomy in the workplace is about making decisions without asking permission from your boss. Not only does this help you feel more fulfilled and satisfied at work, but it will also increase your morale and productivity.
9. Conducting yourself confidently
Don’t confuse confidence with arrogance or overconfidence. Being confident means having a healthy self-esteem and believing in your abilities without crossing the line into unwarranted entitlement. It also means taking responsibility for your actions, both good and bad.
The way you carry yourself can affect your confidence and vice versa. To be confident, you have to feel good about the decisions you make.
Know what is going on around you and how to react. Acknowledge when you are wrong and accept the consequences of your decisions without complaint or blaming others.
Read More: 16 Examples of a Good Mentor
10. Being proactive
A proactive person takes the initiative and does something without waiting for someone else to tell them. Being proactive allows you to manage well your time, energy, and workload at work.
It is about making necessary decisions before problems arise or tackling issues while they are still small rather than letting them grow into big ones and take much effort or resources to fix later on.
11. Identifying the need for help
Self-management isn’t about doing everything alone. Knowing when it is appropriate to ask for assistance is quite important in many jobs.
Knowing your weaknesses can help you focus on improving them so that they will not hold back your career in the future.
Identifying when you need help is necessary for self-management because it helps build awareness and provide insight into how you can improve yourself.
12. Managing time well
Time management is when you consciously allocate your time in advance to be more productive. Having good time management skills means taking control of your schedule and determining what you need to do and when.
Good time management skill ensures that you stay organized, productive and your workload manageable while having enough time to do personal things. Managing your expectations
13. Managing your expectations
Many people have unrealistic ambitions, goals, or expectations that lead to nothing but frustration. Do not set yourself up for failure by letting your expectations mislead you into thinking you can do or achieve more than you really can.
Being realistic about where you are now versus your expectations of where you want to be is a good self-management practice.
Managing your expectations means that you need to be realistic about what you want. If you set too high expectations, chances are you’ll be disappointed not to achieve or succeed in reaching those goals.
You need to be realistic about where you are right now and what you can do; how far you have come versus where you want to go, your ambitions, your hopes, and your dreams — what are your goals? What will it take to get there? Forget about hope and just focus on the facts.
Give up on something when it’s not doing what you want. You manage your expectations by being realistic, setting goals, and measuring your successes.
Conclusion
Self-management is one of the hardest skills to master. It can be challenging, but it’s also rewarding and completely worth it.
Many benefits come with self-management like increased productivity, time management, better personal relationships at work, lower stress levels, and higher job satisfaction. Self-management skills can help you get ahead in your career.
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