SELF-MANAGEMENT:

Self-Management often means different things to different people and sometimes different things at different times even to the same people.

self-management has been dened as: participating in education/treatment or treatment designed to bring about specic outcomes; preparing people to manage their health condition on a day-to-day basis; practicing specic behaviors; and having the skills and abilities to reduce the physical and emotional impact of illness with or without the collaboration of the health care team. This academic tip sheet: looks at how study fits in with the rest of your life; outlines the importance of self-management; and examines how you can manage your time better. How does academic study fit into the total picture? The traditional emphasis of time management has been on making schedules, recording lists and setting goals. These are still valuable strategies, but in current research, ideas on time management have expanded their focus. It is also inportant to consider an individuals

priorities in life and to balance study with work and family commitments, sport and leisure, eating and sleeping. Setting priorities Take the time to consider all the aspects in your life and ask yourself these questions: What are the important things in my life? Where do my priorities lie? Are all aspects of my life (family, study, leisure, friends) receiving attention? What are the long-term outcomes of what I am doing? How does study form part of the total picture? Why is self-management important? Self-management techniques are vital to be a successful student. It is quite common that students drop-out of university not because they find the course too difficult to cope with, but because they become overwhelmed by the workload and are unable to manage study commitments with work and family life. You can avoid this dilemma by being organised and maintaining a healthy balance in all areas of your life. This will help you minimise stress and stay motivated in your studies. Self-management techniques Some of the practical techniques you can adopt are to: learn to cope with stress (see a counsellor for assistance if needed); develop your self esteem and personal confidence; develop effective strategies to cope with conflicts; develop a positive attitude to study; be patient learning and academic skills develop gradually; reappraise your situation regularly and make the adjustments required to succeed; learn from feedback to prevent repeating your mistakes; maintain a healthy lifestyle;

 reward yourself with time off from study (in moderation!; and learn to manage your time better. How can you manage your time better? Poor time-management is by far the most common problem that students encounter. While it may be difficult to predict how much time is needed to complete specific academic tasks, most time-management problems are due to procrastination. You can avoid this by developing effective, practical techniques to organise and budget your time efficiently. There are only 168 hours in a week and you probably lose over half of them in sleeping, eating and travel. When you add sport and leisure, friends and family, as well as work, it is clear you need to use the remaining time effectively. Time-management techniques Here are a few techniques to adopt: Use a wall planner to plan for the semester. Use a diary to plan ahead. Have a list of things to do and their completion date. Review your week and identify where your time goes. Develop a study timetable and allot regular study times. Plan ahead and identify objectives for each study session. Vary your learning activities. Learn to prioritise tasks. Make revision active and ongoing. Be realistic about your commitments leave some time for emergencies and to catch-up Monitor how much time is required for various tasks and adjust your routines accordingly. Decide on a task and keep working on it until it is completed. If interruptions occur, deal with them and then go back to the task. Break large tasks into smaller, manageable ones. Schedule 1-2 hour study sessions with clear goals. Make better use of small blocks of time such as time between lectures and public transport travel time.

 Team up to tackle tasks. Dont underestimate the time needed for study. Study Your time is a limited resource so use it wisely. Make a plan, then trial, evaluate and adapt it where necessary! Keep to a regular study routine wherever possible; however, always treat yourself gently. Accept that there are times when you simply need to break routines. There is a huge variation in the times that are best for effective study. For some, the most appropriate time for study is at 5.00am. For others, top gear is achieved no earlier than 10.00pm. Generally, study in one to one and a half hour time spans. However, at times when you are really absorbed, you may wish to keep working longer. This can often happen when youre researching a particularly fascinating area, or you have found useful links on the Internet. Longer time spans also seem appropriate when you are writing a draft. In other instances, such as finance calculations, or very intensive critical thinking sessions, shorter periods may be more effective. Procrastination Everybody tends to put off commencing an assessment task. Some people, however, consciously keep delaying even when they know that the delay will result in serious disadvantages. When researching an assignment some students procrastinate by reading lots of interesting irrelevant material, thereby putting off the assignment writing. Stay with the purpose and focus of your research. If you find other exciting material, take a record of where it is to be found, and move on! One of the main causes of procrastination is perfectionism. Perfectionists procrastinate as they are scared that they will not get it right, so they stress about starting. Other causes of procrastination include: anxiety; self-depreciation; low discomfort tolerance; pleasure seeking;

 time disorganisation; environmental disorganisation; poor task approach; lack of assertion; hostility with others; and stress and fatigue. If you tend to procrastinate, perhaps you could examine this list, see which one (ones?) apply to you and try and do something to reduce the cause. Self-management checklist Are you clear about your life goals? Are you achieving a balance between study, rest and play? Do you have a clear time-management strategy? What strategies do you have in place to avoid procrastination? Twelve Rules for Self-Management. 1. Live by your values, whatever they are. You confuse people when you dont, because they cant predict how youll behave. 2. Speak up! No one can hear what youre thinking without you be willing to stand up for it. Mind-reading is something most people cant do. 3. Honor your own good word, and keep the promises you make. If not, people eventually stop believing most of what you say, and your words will no longer work for you. 4. When you ask for more responsibility, expect to be held fully accountable. This is what seizing ownership of something is all about; its usually an all or nothing kind of thing, and so youve got to treat it that way. 5. Dont expect people to trust you if you arent willing to be trustworthy for them first and foremost. Trust is an outcome of fulfilled expectations. 6. Be more productive by creating good habits and rejecting bad ones. Good habits corral your energies into a momentum-building rhythm for you; bad habits sap your energies and drain you.

7. Have a good work ethic, for it seems to be getting rare today. Curious, for those old-fashioned values like dependability, timeliness, professionalism and diligence are prized more than ever before. Be action-oriented. Seek to make things work. Be willing to do what it takes. 8. Be interesting. Read voraciously, and listen to learn, then teach and share everything you know. No one owes you their attention; you have to earn it and keep attracting it. 9. Be nice. Be courteous, polite and respectful. Be considerate. Manners still count for an awful lot in life, and thank goodness they do. 10. Be self-disciplined. Thats what adults are supposed to grow up to be. 11. Dont be a victim or a martyr. You always have a choice, so dont shy from it: Choose and choose without regret. Look forward and be enthusiastic. 12. Keep healthy and take care of yourself. Exercise your mind, body and spirit so you can be someone people count on, and so you can live expansively and with abundance.