7 TIPS OF MANAGING YOURSELF
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#1 What can you do best?
We all have things that we do that play to our strengths. For me, I am
great with strategy and setting direction. I love thinking about big picture
and defining what comes next. When I am doing that sort of work I am at my
best, and I enjoy it too.
Chances are, though, that part of your work involves things that may
not come that easily for you. Maybe you aren’t naturally organized and tend to
drop things if there is too much on your plate. For me, I always struggle with
email and managing my communications.
In your work, there are things you are great at, and there are things
you have to do that aren’t your strengths (or you don’t like doing). Ideally
your job would be doing all things you were good at.
Putting it into
practice:
If you think about your current workload, reflect on where you are
spending your time.
Are there places where you can delegate things?
Are there skills or knowledge you need to be building to turn one of
your weaknesses around so you can be more competent in your job?
By aligning the type of work you do to your strengths, you can be much
more effective overall.
#2 Knowing your
rhythms
We all work differently. Some people are early birds, and others
are night owls. I know that I like to do my most involved work in the
morning. If I am coding on a project, or have to write something like
this blog post, the morning is my best time. It is when I am able
to focus and get a lot more done.
If you understand the way your mind and body work, you can structure
your days so you are able to produce your best output.
Putting it into
practice:
This week, pay attention to your mood and energy level throughout the
day. When do you feel the most productive and awake? When are you
tired and need to take breaks? That may be a good time to go grab coffee
with a coworker or mentor.
What foods fuel your body best? Where are you when you do your best
work?
Can you schedule your days to take advantage of your rhythms?
Try to structure your work in a way that it will set you up to do your
best by reserving time on your calendar and planning activities that fit well
with your state of mind.
#3 Charting the
course
You can’t hit a target you can’t see. Sometimes we work without
really thinking about the end goal of what we are doing. We get drawn into what
is urgent, or tactically on the forefront of our mind (or inbox!), without
taking a step back and asking “is this the most important thing I can be doing
right now?”
Having a list of priorities makes sure you stay focused on what is
important. For example our priorities at Popforms are:
- Supporting our paying customers
- Work for our current promotion (right now it is
our workshop)
- Supporting our free customers
- Everything else
Having a personal system of priorities means it is always easy to
answer the question of what I am supposed to do, and in what order.
Putting it into
practice:
What is your list of priorities? Write them out and share them
with your manager to be sure that you are aligned. Bonus points if you
want to do this for your personal life too.
#4 How are you
investing in yourself?
I am a big believer in self improvement. I like to think of my life as
a series of lessons where I am learning something new all the time. Really
successful people became that way because they continued to invest in
themselves and their success. They sought to learn from the best people,
they read books, and they tried lots of things.
Are you investing time
and money into yourself? If not, maybe you should be thinking about a
course or seminar you could attend, hiring a coach, or even just reading a book
or two.
Putting it into
practice:
In order to get to where you want to go, it helps to have a plan. Write
out your resume in 5 years. What do you want to have done in your career
between now and 5 years from now? What should you be doing to get there?
Identify what is missing, and schedule time on your calendar this week to
make progress towards your goals.
#5 What are your
triggers?
Whether you want to create a new habit or break an old one, the first
step is knowing what triggers that habit. Triggers can be positive or negative,
propelling us into action.
Managing yourself means knowing what sets you off in a direction, so
you can control those factors. If stress causes you to bite your nails,
coming up with a solid backup plan to handle stress (that isn’t biting your
nails) is the first step to breaking the bad habit.
Setting yourself up for success also means having backup plans for when
things go wrong. For example, I am trying to lose my baby weight, so if
it is raining outside and I can’t go for a run, I will walk laps around my
kitchen island, so at least I can get some exercise.
Putting it into
practice:
Write down a list of your triggers. How can you use them to your
advantage? If there is a behavior you are looking to change, what sort of plans
can you put in place to overcome obstacles in your path?
#6 Being creative
and innovative
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all had good ideas all the time? Being
creative and innovative takes time and preparation. When I go to write a
blog post, I rely heavily on an evernote file where I keep a list of all kinds
of titles, headlines, and articles I think would make good blog posts.
It is important to set aside time to do “more” than your normal role.
“More” can mean reading more books, meditating, getting exposure to other
industries, or just researching and learning about new ideas.
Putting it into
practice:
What can you do this week to help you be more creative? Is there
something you could research or learn about? A chapter in a book or blog
post you can read? Come up with at least 3 things you can do that involve
growing outside your realm of expertise.
#7 Are you
responsive enough?
Another key aspect of managing yourself is making sure you are
available to the people who need you. This could be your teammates at work or
your family at home. One part of managing your work and your time is making
sure that you are giving other people what they need too.
A lot of us get really “busy” and this means that we don’t make the
time for the people in our lives that are depending on us. And yet our
relationships are one of the biggest influences over our happiness. If you are
too “busy”, you are doing it wrong.
Putting it into
practice:
Take inventory of the important relationships in your life. Make a list
of your friends, your family, and your coworkers. Now for each
relationship, ask yourself if you are working on it enough? Are you
making enough time? If you aren’t, then figure out how you can shift your
priorities accordingly.
To be successful, it isn’t enough to just do the work; you have to be
strategic about how you spend your time. And that means managing yourself
– your strengths, how you spend your time, and your values. The 7 ideas
above give you some suggestions and exercises to help you check-in and make
adjustments.
If you have other strategies that have worked well for you in the past,
go ahead and leave them in the comments.
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Article Source: https://www.safaribooksonline.com
Image Source: https://www.wanderlustworker.com
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