If you surround yourself with books and stationery, you’re more likely to start working than if you’re sitting on the couch with your laptop, phone, and iPad around (along with crisps, biscuits, and tons of soda).Ģ. You should organise your environment in a way that will motivate desired behaviours. Create and enforce the habit for a few days, and you’ll find it becomes an automatic tendency soon.Įnvironmental arrangement is also a good antecedent tactic. You can teach yourself to sit at your designated study space, read your notes, and start memorising them. You know how you sometimes start doing one thing, and then it automatically leads to a series of others that are somehow connected? For instance, checking your email, sending your assignments, and suddenly finding yourself on Instagram? Well, behavioural chains can be used as a force for good. Other examples include starting a behavioural chain. For instance, if you need to revise your vocabulary, you’ll get a notification on a specified day or time. For example, you can start by downloading an app for creating good habits (I use HabitNow), which will send you reminders to do something at certain times. These are behaviours you use before you actually engage in problematic habits. To avoid getting too lost in the semantics, I will borrow (again) from Cooper, Heron, and Heward and broadly categorise self-management strategies as: There are many ways to manage your behaviour – from setting daily reminders on your phone and organising your time to creating a reward system. Tried and Tested Self-Management Strategies Nothing’s gonna happen unless you truly apply yourself to it, so don’t be wishy-washy. Once you have an idea, it’s time to make a conscious, relentless decision. You can even write a list and prioritise according to your own understanding of urgency. Whatever ifs and buts you may be contending with, take this chance to estimate whether you’re the one standing in your own way and consider if there are some bad habits you’d like to change. If you’re struggling to learn a subject, is it because of difficulties, or do you tend to sit and study only to wind up scrolling through social media? Have you promised yourself one too many times that you would get up early, but each day you find yourself looking for (and finding) excuses to stay in bed? On the flip side, you can always rely on your friends to help you out if you cannot locate the source of your problem. In order to manage yourself, you should take a moment and consider what is blocking your success. For example, I didn’t realise that I was pulling my sleeves over my hands until it was pointed out to me now, I’m only hyperaware of it, but oh well! Did I mention you have to be honest about it? We often keep ourselves in denial about our own shortcomings – either deliberately or out of sheer lack of awareness. … you have to consider your strengths and weaknesses. Determination and discipline will get you further than motivation, so make sure that you stick to your decisions, whatever they may be.īefore You Build Your Self-Management Skills … Decide what takes precedence and take one step at a time. Don’t be too harsh on yourself – you cannot do everything at once. Make sure to be reasonable with your plans and account for the time you spend doing all those lovely ‘real-life’ things like grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning, as well as social engagements. Speaking of napping on a daily basis, how you organise your time is also important. If you feel sluggish after lunch and need a nap, rearrange your responsibilities in a way that would allow you to get the rest you need. If you wish to reduce sugar content in your diet, kick the sweets out of the house. The way you organise your life and environment will determine your self-management success. If you suffer from incurable procrastination in the face of certain subjects, try to rewire your brain in the way you think about those subjects and tackle them from another angle. If you’re prone to morning snoozing, consider going to bed earlier and developing better morning habits. Realising you need to change something and setting your sights on that goal is as good a starting place as any. So, instead of turning a blind eye to your bad habits, take a good, hard look at what can be improved. If you’re unaware of your shortcomings, you cannot change. This is the prerequisite for any changes you want to introduce in your behaviour. Self-management is a complex set of decisions, practices, and assessments used to regulate behaviour. Get started now Elements of Self-Management It’s the StudySmarter app! With over 90% of our users reporting an increase in motivation and self-organisation, we’re confident you’ll be part of that statistic!
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