Self-management for professional and personal success

Have you ever felt as if elements of your work life – or work-life balance – feel out of control? Had issues meeting targets, structuring the workday, dealing with change? Want to progress in your career but struggling to see new ideas and ventures to fruition?

Those of us who have never felt like this, to some extent, during our professional careers are surely in the minority. Even for those rare individuals, unpredictable events such as the Covid-19 pandemic – and the subsequent remote working, increased childcare, and increased stress it caused – have likely tested the limits of their self-management over the last two years.

What is self-management?

Self-management refers to the ability to plan and organise your career – although it can also apply to wider aspects of life – by taking ownership of thoughts, feelings and behaviours. ‘Self’ is the central tenet: it’s an individual, personal responsibility. Self-management skills set you up to perform better at work, as they underpin productivity, resourcefulness, independence and organisation. Ultimately, they enable you to follow through on the daily tasks you need to complete. From this position, you’re likely to have greater control over your career and be better-placed to set goals and make the most of new opportunities as they arise. As such, managing yourself in the short-term can have a significant impact on your long-term career.

Ignoring self-management issues can have ramifications across your role. It can negatively impact: decision-making and clarifying goals; career development and personal development; mental health – including stress management, anxiety and depression; physical health conditions; and overall quality of life.

What are self-management skills and how can they be improved?

While you may feel that you do not possess strong self-management skills – or you are satisfied in some areas but not in others – the good news is that there is plenty of scope to develop them.

Examples of self-management skills are numerous:

• Reliability and trustworthiness
• Stress management
• Time management and organisation
•  Adaptability
• Conscientiousness and self-awareness
• Initiative
• Accountability

In the workplace, those practising good self-management are likely to set goals, plan for each workday, be adept at problem-solving, arrive at meetings fully prepared, and think before they speak.

The skills you may need to develop will depend on both your current situation and what you hope to achieve. For example, do you need to find a way to motivate yourself? Want to take initiative at work and get noticed by superiors? Simply struggling with day-to-day organisation?

Follow these key steps to assess your development needs and set an action plan:

• Identify issues, strengths and weaknesses. The first step is to assess your current situation. Are there aspects of working life that are causing issues? In which areas are you less developed than others? Where do your strengths lie, and could they be used to drive development in other areas? This knowledge will help to isolate any areas of personal management where further work would be beneficial.
• Prioritise career goals. Getting a ‘big picture’ view of future career goals and ambitions can help to map professional development work accordingly.
• Choose one skill or task at a time. It probably won’t be practical to improve multiple skills at the same time. You could prioritise the order of importance by which would be most useful to your current role, which is affecting you the most, or even which is the simplest to address. Once you are satisfied with your progress in one area, you can start on the next.
• Set timelines. Assigning deadlines to tasks and career goals helps to build momentum, keep you motivated and map out growth. Getting into the habit of working to timescales also strengthens organisational skills and breaks down larger goals into smaller, achievable steps. You can also practice delivering tasks ahead of deadline, supporting self-improvement alongside day-to-day work.
• Prioritise yourself. As the adage goes, you cannot pour from an empty cup. Focusing on your wellbeing should be centre-stage during this time. Make time for the tried-and-tested pillars of self-care: fresh air and exercise; good-quality sleep; maintaining a healthy diet; socialising with friends and loved ones; pursuing creative and mindful outlets to support mental health; and monitoring and managing moods and emotions.  
• Focus on emotional intelligence. Self-awareness and self-control are key to effective personal management, which is why focusing on emotional intelligence is so important. It involves noticing, understanding and managing your emotions in order to react appropriately to others’ emotions, facilitate communication and relieve stress.

Self-management does not, necessarily, require a monumental shift in thinking and behaviour. For example, if you’ve identified an issue with procrastination, simple, effective methods – such as using the Pomodoro Technique – could have a measurable impact on productivity and require no effort or planning, just a small change to ways of working. Try asking others what they do when they experience similar struggles. Additionally, many workplaces now offer self-management support tools and guidance to employees. Don’t wait until your next performance review; ensure there is enough time for self-management interventions by starting today.

Self-management and protecting wellbeing 

Self-management is closely linked to employee wellbeing. The Harvard Business Review advises that wellness will become the newest metric companies use to understand their employees, while Forbes list is as the number one HR trend for 2022. Wellbeing has expanded beyond the physical to encompass emotional, financial, social and career wellness. Self-management endeavours should be viewed as a holistic practice.

Successes in your professional life are likely to be felt in your personal life, and vice versa. Fundamentally, self-management sets you up to tackle situations that come your way from the strongest position. While self-care may be a buzzword at the moment it is, nevertheless, integral to laying the foundations on which you can thrive. After all, it’s hard to expand and develop if the basics aren’t being addressed. There is a wealth of research linking self-care and wellbeing to a reduced likelihood of burnout. And the benefits go far beyond this to better all-round functionality: improved happiness; increased energy; better relationships; reduced stress, anxiety and depression; and increased resilience.

The link between self-management and leadership

 The ‘shadow of a leader’ refers to the unconscious influence that a manager or leader has on others – and it can have a profound impact on the culture of a team or organisation. Team members have a tendency to mirror a leader’s behaviour and values; ergo, leaders who model strong self-management skills can encourage or instil them in others.

The shadow doesn’t have to stop with modelling positive behaviours. A leader who starts open dialogues about their own self-management and self-regulation improvement plans creates a culture of self-reflection and improvement within the team. It’s a simple and productive way to encourage employees to assess and structure their own professional development.

Take charge of your future career development

If you want to gain a robust understanding of the skills required to excel in business, leadership and management, look no further than the University of Lincoln’s online MSc Management programme.

You’ll benefit from flexible, interactive learning – designed to meet the requirements of the modern, global business environment – with a practical, industry-focused outlook. By studying this degree, you could graduate with skills that are highly sought by employers, from project management, organisational strategy and entrepreneurship, to logical thought and decision-making, communication and independent analysis.