SELF MANAGEMENT SKILLS

Session 1: Stress Management

• Definition of Stress: Your emotional, mental, physical, and social reaction to perceived demands or threats, known as stressors.
• ABC of Stress Management:
  • A (Adversity): The stressful event.
  • B (Beliefs): The way you respond to that event.
  • C (Consequences): The actions and outcomes of the event.
• Steps to Manage Stress: First, be aware that you are stressed; second, identify the cause; and third, apply management methods.
• Management Techniques: These include effective time management, physical exercise, maintaining a healthy diet, staying positive, organizing your academic life, getting enough sleep (at least 7 hours), and taking holidays with family and friends.
• Emotional Intelligence (EI): The ability to identify and manage your own and others’ emotions. Key skills include emotional awareness, harnessing emotions for tasks like problem-solving, and managing/regulating emotions when necessary.

Session 2: Self-Awareness — Strength and Weakness Analysis

• Knowing Yourself: Understanding your background, likes, dislikes, values, beliefs, and opinions is the first step toward self-awareness.
• Strengths vs. Weaknesses: Analysing these helps convert weaknesses into strengths and strengths into exceptional talents.
  • Finding Strengths: Think about your successes and what others admire in you.
  • Finding Weaknesses: Identify areas where you struggle and be open to feedback without feeling discouraged.
• Interests vs. Abilities: Interests are things you enjoy doing in your free time, while abilities are natural or acquired capacities that allow you to perform tasks with proficiency.

Session 3: Self-Motivation

• Definition: The internal force that drives you to achieve goals and improve your quality of life without external influence.
• Types of Motivation:
  • Internal (Intrinsic): Doing things because they make you feel happy and healthy.
  • External (Extrinsic): Doing things for rewards, recognition, or appreciation.
• Building Self-Motivation: The four steps are: 1) Find your strengths and likes; 2) Set and focus on goals; 3) Develop a plan with a timeline; and 4) Stay loyal to your goals even during difficult times.

Session 4: Self-Regulation — Goal Setting

• Goal Setting: Finding and listing your goals and planning how to achieve them. Goals are essentially “dreams with a deadline”.
• SMART Goals: A method to ensure goals are effective:
  • Specific: Clear goals that answer who, what, where, when, and why.
  • Measurable: Answers “how much” or “how many” to track results.
  • Achievable: Breaking big goals into smaller, manageable parts.
  • Realistic: Goals that you actually want to achieve and can work toward.
  • Time-bound: Setting a specific timeframe for completion.

Session 5: Self-Regulation — Time Management

• Definition: The ability to plan and control how you spend your day to complete all desired tasks.
• Four Steps for Effective Time Management:
  1. Organise: Plan your day, use a timetable, and keep your surroundings clean.
  2. Prioritise: Create a “to-do” list and rank tasks by importance (e.g., Must Do, Should Do, Nice to Do).
  3. Control: Avoid time-wasters like excessive phone use or gossip sites.
  4. Track: Note where you spend your time to analyze if you are using it effectively.