Self awareness v self management

Why are these guys up against each other? Both equally important, wouldn’t you agree? 

I believe so.

The difference is, at this time, organizations are moving towards a focus on self management now, more so than ever before. 

You may start to see a push for training and development covering aspects of this that have not been offered before. Or you may find that you are required to be more accountable for things that normally happen like clock work. Or you find that you are on zoom more than you have ever been in physical meetings. 

Is your head nodding in agreement? 

Why? Because…

As we start to transition back into the workforce, flexible working arrangements is going to a topic of conversation among many boardrooms. Employers have proven that they can work from home and that in most cases, their productivity didn’t skip a beat - or better yet, increased.

The fall out of this is that organizations are starting to see the importance of self management. 

Heads up - I suspect the expectations of self management will increase. 

What can you do about it? 

Understand your motivators. What is motivating you to do your job? Be super clear here because if this is out of whack your energy levels, productivity and general well-being are affected. 

Know when you work best. Is it earlier in the day or later? Do you need music or silence? 

Put your phone away if possible. It is such a distraction. It breaks your flow and can also make it even harder to get back into the swing of things and work (personally, this is one I am currently working on). 

Have open conversations. If you don’t already, work on building a professional relationship with your manager. Have open conversations about what is going on for you in your role, work, tasks at hand. What you need help with and what your currently winning at. Install confidence in them so they don’t even question that your ability to perform your task.

Take the pressure off. We are not on 100% of the time. Sometimes we are more productive than others. Some days are better than others. Be ok with that. This is not a free pass to go slacking off all the time, this is a reminder that you are human and we all go through our season of when we are ON and when we need to take things a little slower. Know that about yourself and plan and prepare so you can be your best self in each season. What I see happening here is that when we do close our laptop and feel like we could have done more - that thought sticks with us, making us feel guilty and ashamed so we feel we need to overcompensate the next day. Let’s take the pressure off and learn from it. 

All in all - to come full circle... self awareness and self management are intertwined and if you are aware of your strengths, weakness, areas of development and how you work best you are going to be a great self manager, naturally. 

Do you have any ways in which you self manage?