COVER PAGE
Self-Management Learning and Development
Jasmine Mc Ghee, Elizabeth Walker, Niamh McNamara and Cathal Slevin 11-17-2016
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TABLE OF CONTENTS COVER PAGE......................................................................................................................... i TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................................... 1 DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY......................................................................................2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................3 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... 4 LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................................... 5 CONCLUSIONS..................................................................................................................... 6 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................... 7 REFERENCES....................................................................................................................... 8 APPENDICES........................................................................................................................ 9
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DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY We hereby declare that this submission is our own work and to the best of our knowledge it contains no plagiarised material. We declare that all material presented are our own work, or fully and specifically acknowledged wherever adapted from other sources. This work contains no materials previously published or written by another person, nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other master’s degree, degree, diploma or certificate at any other educational institution, except where the acknowledgement is made in the work by means of the Harvard referencing system. Any contribution made to this work by others, with whom we have worked with, is explicitly acknowledged in the acknowledgements page.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Our project is based on the study of Self Management. We have collaborated as a team of four individuals, studying four different areas under the heading of Self Management. We hope our project gives the reader/listener an insight into what self management involves and that they can learn something from it. In undertaking this team assignment it was important we kept regular communication with each other through meetings, social media and on Google drive to bring together our finished work. From all of our findings we have put together an essay below. We have a power point presentation to accompany the essay where we used visual aids to interpret our learning on self management. During the process of completing the assignment we learned how to cooperate as a team, listen to everyone’s thoughts and suggestions and encourage each other to meet deadlines set
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INTRODUCTION Self-Management is the management of one’s self in their everyday lives, at work or at school and college. It involves having complete control of a situation and taking full responsibility for yourself. Throughout this essay we thoroughly examine self-management.
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LITERATURE REVIEW What is Self-Management? Self-management can be defined as 'an alternative to the traditional, hierarchical method of organizing we see most often in modern organizations'. (www.selfmanagement.org )Under this system, people in an organization are allowed to manage themselves, and their work, without having to worry about a manager or any person who is above them in the company chain of command. However, self-management can be used in places outside of the workplace, for example, college students. This system of personal management can aid students studying in any degree, as it helps students become more independent, as well as teaching them to manage not just their college assignments, but also their personal life as well. The key to self-management is being able to be disciplined enough to work to a certain routine, and being able to lower ones procrastination level's. So many of us waste time every day, be it watching Television or using social media sites. In an article published on the Telegraph’s website, 'The average person has five social media accounts and spends around 1 hour and 40 minutes browsing these networks every day, accounting for 28pc of the total time spent on the internet.' (The Telegraph, 2015) For one to be adequate at self-managing themselves, there must be as little procrastination as possible. One cannot come home on a Monday and simply say 'the assignment is due Friday, so I'll do it Thursday'. These people have to have the drive and organizational skills to plan out how they will get this project done by Friday, without leaving themselves no time to do it. This is the basis to personal selfmanagement. Self-management can also help people who are suffering with stress or other mental illnesses. People who are stressed usually don't have structure in their personal lives, and spend quite a while stressing about things they cannot change. Effective Self-management, in the words of Trinity College, ₃'will help you to avoid stress and provide you with more opportunities to get involved in fun campus activities'. (TCD, 2015) Not only does this help people cope with
stress, as everything is much more structured, but also will aid people get involved, as they have the time to take part in extracurricular activities. In essence, this system of personal management is something that every student in college should adopt. It will make academic life easier on the student in question, and will improve
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their personal well-being as well. Employees in a firm can utilize self-managing systems to allow them to get more work done in a shorter span of time. It will also increase their productivity and allow them to become more goal orientated.
References 1. www.selfmanagementinstitute.org "What is Self-Management?", Information accessed on 6th October 2016, http://tinyurl.com/ozkccme 2. www.telegraph.co.uk, (2015), "Is your daily social media usage higher than average?� Information accessed on 6th October 2016 http://tinyurl.com/oflgvq9 3. www.tcd.ie, (2015), Self-Management, Information accessed on 6th October2016, http://tinyurl.com/ze8g2s5
Advantages and Disadvantages of Self-Management: The advantages of self-management are that you become comfortable with delegating your work and managing your time, you can take advantage of rare opportunities and you learn to manage your commitments. Source: http://tinyurl.com/zqblckf. The disadvantages of self- management are that setting an unrealistically high expectation or goal. If the goal cannot be achieved, becoming frustrated. If a person becomes too selfmanaged, they may have trouble listening to others. It takes time to become a self-managing individual. A fair bit of time has to be spent in developing the knowledge and skills. Source: http://tinyurl.com/jflqv83
Self-Management Skills: There are many self-management skills such as: Getting into the habit of finishing what you start and frequently asking “Is what I am doing right now moving me toward my goals? Practice concentrating on your work, doing only one thing at a time. Accepting responsibility for your job successes and failures. Taking time to be quiet and reflective for a few minutes each day and to thank yourself for a good job. Planning is essential for everything you undertake. Think it through, then do it. Source: http://tinyurl.com/jrewtp9
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Self-confident people tend to see their lives in a positive way and they face their fears headon. Self-motivation is a crucial ability in the self-management skills list too. Self-motivation is one of the most powerful forces that drive you to do things and to achieve success in business and personal life. Healthy eating and physical activities are extremely important when it comes to increasing your mind and body power. When you exercise and do activities your brain releases more of endorphins known as serotonin, which helps you feel good and fight bad mood and negative emotions. They are among the most important personal, job and self-management skills you have to possess to be effective and self-confident. References: 1. Business skills & software (2015) Available at: http://tinyurl.com/jgu36mr (Accessed: 3 October 2016). 2. Bizmove, Self-management skills & techniques. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/jrewtp9 (Accessed: 3 October 2016). 3. Services, S.I. (1999) Self-management. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/jflqv83 (Accessed: 3 October 2016). 4. EDUCAUSE (2016) Power to the people: Why self-management is important. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/zqblckf (Accessed: 3 October 2016).
Self-Management at Work: Self-management is one of the fundamental ways to reach your potential as an employee. Self-management is a set of skills acquired over time which enable us to manage ourselves in the workplace and other areas e.g. school. Are you running late to work frequently? Are you putting off everything until last minute? If so, then self-management is one of the key issues needed to be resolved (Dublin, 2015). One of the first steps in managing yourself in the workplace is by learning how to handle your time and commitments. This doesn’t mean remove commitments altogether such as sport or a hobby, it means to fit them in alongside your work commitments so that they don’t clash with one another. The second part to self-management is to motivate yourself to learn and build up your skills outside of the workplace which will benefit you no matter where you work. This links in with the final step of time management. If you don’t manage your time and plan your days, then everything becomes that much more unorganised and possibly rushed (Suess, 2015).
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A diary or calendar can be extremely beneficial in regards to self-management, essentially as a person we only have a limited amount of time to ourselves within and outside of the workplace. A diary can be extremely useful in self-management. One of the many advantages of using a diary to plan your weeks is that it helps you to remember and keep track of important appointments, meetings and preventing you from running late frequently. It can remind you of important payments that may have to be made in the workplace also. The main advantage is that it helps you on a daily basis remember to do those daily tasks that are so easily forgotten. However, getting into the habit of using a diary at first can be challenging and becomes a habit after time, persistence is the only way in remembering to use it, look at it, and write in it. In order to start to self-manage you have to make small steps, whether this be writing down everything you need to get done in a week or creating a timetable for the kitchen (Pasis, 2016) (Nguyen, 2015). In the philosophy of self-management, it is said that people tend to be significantly happier when they are in control of their life. When managing your time and yourself you get more things done and stress levels as a result are reduced. Another key part in the philosophy of self-management is that when people are given more responsibility they tend to develop as a person and employee due to being pushed beyond their comfort zone (Institute, 2016). References: 1. Dublin, T. C. (2015, December 16). TCD. Retrieved from www.tcd.ie: https://studentlearning.tcd.ie/undergraduate/topics/self-management/ 2. Institute, S.-M. (2016). Self-Management Institute. Retrieved from www.selfmanagementinstitute.org: http://www.self-managementinstitute.org/about/what-isself-management 3. Nguyen, T. (2015, February 13). Huffington Post. Retrieved from www.huffingtonpost.com: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thai-nguyen/benefits-ofjournaling-_b_6648884.html 4. Pasis, D. (2016, September 6). Personalorganizing. Retrieved from www.personalorganizing.about.com: http://personalorganizing.about.com/od/Organizing-Tools/fl/Do-You-Need-aPersonal-Planner.htm
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5. Suess, J. (2015, September 14). Educause. Retrieved from er.educause.edu: http://er.educause.edu/blogs/2015/9/power-to-the-people-why-self-management-isimportant
Self-Management in school and college: Self-management through our academic years involves how we work/operate and how we represent ourselves in school and college. It involves being self-regulated and being able to direct your own learning. Organization and planning are key elements in managing yourself through your college years. Keeping a diary/journal is strongly recommended to manage your day-to-day activities and tasks. To be successful in self-management time management is a big factor. You should break down tasks assigned into manageable pieces and prioritize the ones you feel are most important. Being realistic with your time to those tasks you feel will take you longer is essential in order to avoid stress. If you create stress for yourself it will hinder your confidence and can damage your self-management in both the short term and long term. It is important to resolve your stress level as soon as you feel it arising so it doesn’t affect your studies. If you are feeling a lot of pressure or stress to talk to some either a fellow classmate, lecturer or student councillor. Handling distractions can be a big issue in self-management of the student. With concentration and ultimately determination to reach the end goal of your studies this can be overcome. We are all guilty of being distracted by things that entice us instead of doing what we should be doing. An example of this would be going to the pub or on a night out when you know you have an assignment due the next day. A way you can avoid being caught in this situation is to have a routine in place whereby you allocate time for everything both social and academic creating the right balance for you. With a little bit of perseverance and discipline this can be achieved. You will find this routine method of organization will have a mutual effect on your ability to handle stress because you will be meeting your deadlines for college along with being able to socialize without any guilt. You will become motivated to work knowing when you have met your goals set by you, the student and independent learner, then you will be rewarded and you can feel a great sense of satisfaction as it has been well deserved.
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To become good at self-management we must also avoid the dangerous factor of procrastination. Admitting to it is half the battle. As a good student you must be aware of when you are becoming a victim of procrastination and resolve it by having self-control. Once again this is where your planning comes into play. If you feel you are falling into the trap of procrastination you should take a break, get some exercise to clear your mind and then refer back to your diary with your tasks and pick one to complete in its given timeframe. Self-Management in school and college isn’t an easy one and it takes much practice to master. You will have your bad days but that’s acceptable as we are all human and they will be overlooked by all your achievements through your academic years. References: 1. www.performwll.org "Self Management ", Information accessed on 30 October 2016 http://tinyurl.com/zv9ag6y 2. www.tcd.ie (2015), Self Management, Information accessed on 30th October http://tinyurl.com/hdjsw77
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CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, Self-Management is a fundamental skill that every person, whether it is a student studying in college, or a manager in a large company, can utilize. When one makes use of self-management, they are less likely to be stressed about assignments, or work deadlines. Making use of a diary is a key part of self-managing your day to day activities, whether it is a small notebook or simply using the notes function on a smartphone. This project’s research has also highlighted that for one to truly become a proficient self-manager, there must be no procrastination in that person’s life whatsoever. If a student, worker, or indeed anyone can adapt to a self-managing style of living, they will certainly live a more productive and happy life.
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RECOMMENDATIONS For any LDHE student, it is important that if you want to begin using self-management, you have to have driven and motivation, and be able to say to yourself, ‘I want to accomplish a certain task by a certain day’ and be completely focused on completing this task. If you don’t have the drive, don’t get in the car! Keep a diary, and have a timetable that you can work around every day. Set a certain day that you want to have a task completed by, and keep your procrastination to a minimum. If you don’t feel like studying on a certain day, try not to just sit back and watch TV or YouTube for the evening. Do something productive, like practicing a sport you like, or begin writing a book. Even if it has nothing to do with a college assignment, as long as you are keeping yourself busy, you are much less likely to wake up the next day feeling anxious and stressed. The main point is, manage your time well, because you will never get it back.
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REFERENCES 1. www.selfmanagementinstitute.org "What is Self-Management?", Information
accessed on 6th October 2016, http://tinyurl.com/ozkccme 2. www.telegraph.co.uk, (2015), "Is your daily social media usage higher than average?�
Information accessed on 6th October 2016 http://tinyurl.com/oflgvq9 3. www.tcd.ie, (2015), Self-Management, Information accessed on 6th October2016, http://tinyurl.com/ze8g2s5 1. Business skills & software (2015) Available at: http://tinyurl.com/jgu36mr (Accessed:
3 October 2016). 2. Bizmove, Self-management skills & techniques. Available at:
http://tinyurl.com/jrewtp9 (Accessed: 3 October 2016). 3. Services, S.I. (1999) Self-management. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/jflqv83
(Accessed: 3 October 2016). 4. EDUCAUSE (2016) Power to the people: Why self-management is important.
Available at: http://tinyurl.com/zqblckf (Accessed: 3 October 2016). 5. Dublin, T. C. (2015, December 16). TCD. Retrieved from www.tcd.ie:
http://tinyurl.com/ztpgfum 6. Institute, S.-M. (2016). Self-Management Institute. Retrieved from www.self-
managementinstitute.org: http://tinyurl.com/ozkccme 7. Nguyen, T. (2015, February 13). Huffington Post. Retrieved from
www.huffingtonpost.com: http://tinyurl.com/o9h9uu2 8. Pasis, D. (2016, September 6). Personalorganizing. Retrieved from
www.personalorganizing.about.com: http://tinyurl.com/jbv5kzj 9. Suess, J. (2015, September 14). Educause. Retrieved from er.educause.edu:
http://tinyurl.com/zqblckf 10. www.performwll.org "Self Management ", Information accessed on 30 October 2016
http://tinyurl.com/zv9ag6y 11. www.tcd.ie (2015), Self Management, Information accessed on 30th October
http://tinyurl.com/hdjsw77
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