Self Management

Self Management means that you know how to focus on what your organization thinks is important and someone doesn't have to look over your shoulder all the time to make certain that you are doing it.
Be well,
Dwika-ExecuTrain


Tip #3: "Self Management: Getting Things Done"
by: Steven Cerri

Most people think self-management is about time management. They think it's about things-to-do lists, action items, and the like. That's NOT what I'm talking about here. Self Management is NOT time management. Self Management is the ability to focus on what needs to be done and then doing it. Being able to accomplish what is necessary to accomplish.

Self-Management is best defined as the following:

* Putting first things first.
* Doing what is urgent versus not urgent.
* Doing what's important versus not important.
* Focusing on the critical path (the most direct, essential, value-added route that can be plotted from the work you are doing to the happy customer and bottom-line profitability for the company.
* Being much more on your own and taking responsibility for your own actions and work.


This is also not about having a clean desk. In fact, there is no evidence that people with clean desks are better self-managers than those buried under paper. Every self-managed producer has self-organizing processes that work for them based on who they are and how they work best. There is no one perfect way for everyone. So don't let someone tell you they know how you should be organizing yourself. Look at how you work best. Feel what works for you and what doesn't.

Do not measure your productivity by the number of check marks on your things-to-do list. Instead, rate what you do by it's contribution to the critical path. One or two tasks on your critical path completed in an hour can be worth a day spent checking off non-critical items from your things-to-do list.

The more you embrace the concept of self management, the more you will find yourself making your own decisions regarding how you do your work and how you prioritize your time within the requirements of your tasks. As you become better at this you will find you will be given more and more independence. This is the path to organizational contributor, and it is ultimately the path to manager.

One word of caution. Self Management does not mean that you work while keeping your boss in the dark. It doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want. Self Management means that you know how to focus on what your organization thinks is important and someone doesn't have to look over your shoulder all the time to make certain that you are doing it.