Self-management is a key skill that will help you throughout your life. It involves setting goals and managing your time. Developing your motivationand concentration skills will help you to overcome the lure of procrastination. Effective self-management will help you to avoid stress and provide you with more opportunities to get involved in fun campus actitivies.
A key skill in self-management is self regulation. Self-regulation refers to individuals monitoring, controlling and directing aspects of their learning for themselves.
Self-Management Strategies- Monitor – don’t just let things happen, assess and see why then pick a strategy
- Evaluate – take the time to ask if things are working out for you
- Reinforce
- Prioritise
- Plan
- Break things into small, manageable pieces
- Goal Setting
- Be Specific
- Use all time - e.g. even travel time can be used to review or quiz oneself
- Action builds momentum – do something, anything
- Make a commitment – create a deadline if one doesn’t exist or you need an earlier one
See our section on Time-Management.
Attitude/Confidence Strategies- Stop making excuses – instead think in terms of challenges
- Focus on effort not results
- Thought stopping
- Reframe - e.g. “want” instead of “should”
- Self-Talk – use positive thoughts and challenge negative thoughts
- Affirm Yourself – use positive phrases including “I”, like “I can do this” and say them often
- Exert Control over what you can, accept what you cannot change
- Get more active in the study process – ask yourself questions, join a study group, try to teach someone else
- Distribute study instead of cramming – easier to concentrate for shorter periods
- Keep memo or notebook - for thoughts or things to do that keep popping into your head
- Assign Worry Time - if you have a problem or difficulty to deal with
- Re-focus attention – by using trigger words like “just listen”
- Build time – do something for five minutes, then next time 7 minutes, etc.
- Routine – organise environment etc., much like an athlete before an event
- Eat, sleep and exercise properly
- Don’t ignore emotions or thoughts
- Manage your stress
