When it comes to self management, I don’t think there are many mysteries. It’s much like understanding what it takes to be healthy. Eat right, exercise and get some sleep. Simple, yet hard to do.
General self management advice could probably be summarized as watching your planning, prioritizing and promises. These are all decisions that you make, so pay close attention to how you plan, how you prioritize and what you promise.
As always, I like to prompt your thinking with a few questions:
- On Plannning:
- What would improve your planning process?
- What tools, systems or people do you need to do it?
- On Prioritizing:
- How do you prioritize?
- How do you make decisions about what’s most important?
By the way, many clients like to use a prioritizing grid to help them in this process. If you’d like me to email you a copy of a prioritizing grid, send me an email to request one:
mailto:lantz@workmatters.com
- On Promising:
- What promises are you making that you shouldn’t?
- What will you do about it?
- What’s realistic?
Part of self management is learning how to take the negative pressure off yourself. It’s not just about letting some things go, which is important. It’s about recommitting to what you really want to say “Yes” to. Gaining clarity around what’s most important and what you need to do can create positive pressure to move you forward.