How To Improve Your Self-Management Skills
If you’re wanting to perform to the best of your abilities in life, there is one particular skill set that you need to harbour: self-management skills.
Self-management encompasses a range of different sub-areas and soft skills that all add up to create a holistic approach to your work, ranging from time management to management of stress levels.
Being in control of these crucial elements means you will get the best possible formula to help you achieve your goals on your journey to success.
What is self-management?
Self-management is the art of controlling your behaviours, feelings and thoughts in order to best apply yourself to your work for maximum results.
Self-management encompasses a range of aspects, whether skills in the workplace or in your day-to-day life. It is a particularly relevant skill when it comes to your work performance however; someone with strong self-management skills is able to maintain the same level of composure, focus and motivation, no matter the scenario.
Why self-management skills are so important
There are a number of reasons effective self-management skills are so crucial for anyone wanting to be at the top of their game. It gives you control, strength and reassurance during testing times. Furthermore, it can help to create a stable foundation for yourself through anything that life throws at you, such as dealing with a difficult colleague or a particularly tight deadline.
Self-management is such a key skill because it nurtures all of the important elements of succeeding in any given role. Ultimately, discovering and honing in on your self-management skills can be the difference between coasting along through life and standing out from the crowd.
Want to improve your own self-management skills? Read on…
Tips to improve self-management skills
Get organised
First thing’s first, ensure you break down your day into manageable sections ranked by importance.
If you don’t do this already, this could be one of the major factors inhibiting your success. Encompassing time management and organisational skills, this area of self-management is a key player to help you get from A to B effectively.
Having strong time management skills is one of the main elements of successfully managing your day. To use your time effectively, delegate portions of your day to each task in order of importance. This will ensure you have a clear plan of action that is both manageable and makes organisational sense.
Remain flexible
Being adaptable is another crucial element of self-management. Rigidity is a major hindrance when it comes to self-management – things won’t always go as planned!
Having the insight to create workaround solutions whilst remaining calm during periods of upheaval is one of the benefits of adaptability.
Not only does this make you better prepared for the many hurdles that appear in life, but it also helps you to hone in on your problem-solving skills.
Be prepared for any scenario and commit to reacting in a fluid manner in order to best develop this aspect of self-management.
Remove distractions
Take away distractions and you’ve got one less hurdle in the way to effective self-management.
Your ability to regulate your focus levels can be made a lot easier by removing irrelevant distractions, such as your mobile phone, less important tasks or even colleagues.
If needs be, take these distractive elements out of the equation by working alone and with all possible distractions away from you. With time and practice, you may find that you can remain focused and motivated without having to move away from any external distractions, which is the ultimate goal.
Remove or reduce negative stimuli
A major roadblock to a lot of people’s self-management is negative stimuli, such as pessimism and stress, which can go on to hinder mental health and inhibit focus.
Overcoming negative stimuli can be as simple as starting the day doing something positive, such as meditating, versus consuming negative news stories. Inundating yourself with negativity in the form of news first thing in the morning can be hugely detrimental to your wellbeing and gets the day off to a rocky start.
Starting your day off positively by making a habit of paying no mind to negative media or people can do wonders for helping you manage yourself in the best possible way.
Self-reflect
Self-reflection is a form of personal development; understanding yourself at a deeper level can help to cultivate emotional intelligence.
Having a solid understanding of yourself forms strong foundations for all other elements of your life. Picture it this way – if a house is built on stable foundations, it is not as easy to rock.
You may wish to journal in order to build up a picture of yourself or to highlight areas to work on. Once you have cultivated a strong sense of your inner persona, you become better able to handle challenges thrown at you.
Get support from an expert
You may wish to focus your energy on personal development as an avenue to improve your self-management skills. In this instance, getting feedback and support from a professional or expert with a multitude of experiences can be extremely useful.
How can the right support for your needs be found? It can be as easy as taking our free Expert Matcher quiz, which within a few clicks can match an expert based on your experience and requirements.
About Wiseup
Championing the ever-growing desire for personal development, the Wiseup vision is to bring online coaching & mentoring to the UK.
With a host of experts at our fingertips, we can support you in a range of areas, including career development, life coaching, executive coaching, career changes, business coaching, plus so much more. Learn more about Wiseup and the team here, plus check out more of our blogs here.
