Self-management Skills | Artificial Intelligence for Class 10 PDF Download

Introduction

Self-management, or 'self-control,' involves effectively regulating one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior in various situations. It also includes self-motivation and goal setting. Individuals with strong self-management skills often excel in their tasks, making them highly preferred by employers.

Basics of Self-Management

• To succeed in work and life, one must cultivate and improve skills such as discipline, punctuality, goal-setting, problem-solving, teamwork, and professionalism.
• By developing proficiency in these areas, one can achieve success both personally and professionally.

Skills for Success in Life:

• Self-awareness: Seek honest feedback. Learn about your personality and work strengths. Reflect on daily interactions and how you managed situations. 
• Responsibility: Being responsible for your tasks is crucial. Taking ownership leads to self-improvement. For instance, if a teacher assigns a task, take full responsibility. Even if you can't finish on time, inform and rectify. 
• Time Management: Prioritize tasks, eliminate inefficiencies, create a timetable, and stick to it. 
• Adaptability: Stay updated, follow best practices, and embrace new information. Prepare for changes to transition smoothly.

Stress Management 

Stress and Stress Management

• Have you ever felt anxious about passing a test?
• Do you feel pressured when certain topics are brought up by people around you that make you uncomfortable?
• Do you worry about not succeeding in life?
• If so, you are experiencing stress.
• Stress can push you to achieve more, but if it persists for a long time, it can lead to health issues and mental challenges.

What is Stress?

• Stress can be described as our emotional, mental, physical, and social response to any perceived demands or threats.
• These demands or threats are known as stressors, and they are the reasons behind stress.
• For instance: 
  • Feeling unprepared when exams are approaching too quickly.
  • Dealing with the loss of a close family member.
  • Concerns about others' opinions if you are not dressed well or unable to speak confidently.
  • Stress arising from a lack of sleep.

Stress Management

• Stress is a common part of our daily lives. Sometimes, feeling stressed can actually be useful. For example, a fire alarm is meant to make you feel stressed so you can stay safe. Similarly, the pressure of a deadline for a school paper can push you to complete your work on time. However, if stress becomes too much or lasts for a long time, it can have negative effects. It may hurt both our mental and physical well-being, and make it hard for us to do well at home, in school, or in our relationships. 
• Dealing with stress involves creating a plan to handle the everyday pressures in a healthy way. The main aim is to find a good balance between work, personal life, relationships, relaxation, and enjoyment. This way, you can face daily stress triggers effectively and tackle challenges as they come.
  Remember the ABCs of stress management:
  A. Adversity or the stressful event
  B. Beliefs or how you react to the event
  C. Consequences or the results of the event

Three Steps to Deal with Stress:

• Identify the stressful situation
• Understand your reaction to it.
• Take action to manage it effectively.

Management Techniques

Here are a few simple stress management techniques:

• Time management: Properly managing your time is one of the best ways to reduce stress.
• Physical exercise and fresh air: It's important for students to lead a healthy lifestyle. Stress levels are typically lower in those who stick to healthy habits. Engaging in activities like yoga, meditation, and deep breathing can improve blood flow and help the body relax. Simply going for a walk or playing in the park can provide plenty of fresh oxygen, making you more energetic.
• Healthy diet: Having a good diet can help reduce stress. Eating a balanced diet, like lentils, bread, vegetables, and fruits, will give you the energy to do your daily tasks efficiently. 
• Positivity: Focusing on the negatives in life can create more stress. Instead, learn to see the positives and stay optimistic. For instance, rather than getting upset about a low test score, try to keep a positive mindset and think about ways to improve next time. 
• Organizing academic responsibilities; no procrastination: By keeping your class notes organized, completing assignments on time, and staying on top of all deadlines, stress can be significantly reduced.
• Sleep: We should aim for a good night's rest of at least 7 hours to recharge our brain and body for better functioning the next day.
• Holidays with family and friends: Visiting a relative's home, like your grandparents' place, or exploring a new destination during your summer breaks can provide a refreshing break from your usual routine.

Ability to Work Independently

If you can achieve a calm and composed state, you will gain the capacity to work on your own.

• Being aware of yourself, keeping track of your actions, and making corrections independently.
• Understanding your tasks clearly.
• Acting on your own accord rather than waiting for instructions.
• Owning up to your errors without shifting blame.
• Being eager and ready to learn consistently.

Emotional Intelligence

• Emotional intelligence is the capacity to recognize and manage both your own emotions and the emotions of others.
  It generally includes three key skills:
  • Emotional Awareness: Recognizing and naming your own emotions.
  • Harnessing Emotions: Using emotions effectively for tasks like thinking and problem-solving.
  • Managing Emotions: Regulating your own emotions and assisting others in doing the same.
• Managing your emotions is crucial for dealing with stress, staying open-minded, and overcoming failures. Emotional intelligence also contributes to better relationships with friends and family.
• For example, if Ravi and his best friend Shiv, who were both practicing for a school dance competition, experienced different outcomes on competition day—Shiv won and Ravi felt deeply disappointed—Ravi's reaction might include shouting at Shiv, crying, and withdrawing from his parents. However, if Ravi had been emotionally intelligent, he would have handled the defeat with grace and focused on improving for the next competition.
• Improving emotional intelligence can lead to greater success and a balanced life. Here are some steps to manage emotional intelligence:
  • Understand Your Emotions: Observe your behavior to identify areas for improvement and work on them.
  • Rationalize: Avoid making hasty decisions; instead, think rationally.
  • Practice: Engage in meditation and yoga to maintain calmness.

Self-Awareness: Strength and Weakness Analysis

Understanding who you are means looking outside your usual characteristics, such as your name, qualification and interpersonal relationships. In other words, being selfaware actually means knowing your inner strengths, hidden talents, skills and even weaknesses.
Let us look at how we define strengths and weaknesses:

Knowing Yourself

• Understanding yourself—your likes and dislikes, beliefs, opinions, background, strengths, and weaknesses—is crucial because it allows you to accurately assess your strengths and areas for improvement.

Strength and Weakness Analysis

Understanding who you are goes beyond your usual traits like your name, qualifications, and interpersonal relationships. True self-awareness involves recognizing your inner strengths, hidden talents, skills, and even weaknesses. Let’s explore how we define strengths and weaknesses.

Examples of strengths:

• I am skilled at creative writing.
• I am confident speaking in front of an audience.
• I play the guitar very well.

Examples of weaknesses:

• I find it challenging to solve math problems.
• I would like to speak English fluently.
• I do not like losing in games or sports.

Techniques for Recognizing Your Strengths and Weaknesses 

• Finding Strengths (or Abilities):
  • Reflect on tasks or activities where you consistently succeed.
  • Consider what others appreciate or like about you.
  • Set aside time to think about what you excel at.
• Finding Weaknesses:
  • Identify areas where you struggle or find tasks difficult.
  • Review feedback that others frequently give you.
  • Be open to receiving feedback and acknowledge your weaknesses as opportunities for growth.
• To identify your strengths and weaknesses, answer the following questions:
  • How am I different from others?
  • What do I do better than others?
  • What qualities do others admire in me?
  • What makes me stand out?
  • In what areas do I feel worried or struggle?
  • Where and why do others perform better than me?
  • What advice for improvement do I often receive from others?

Difference between Interests and Abilities (Strengths)

When what you like doesn't match what you're good at, you have two choices: get better at what you do or find another path. For instance, if you love music but can't sing well, don't force yourself to be a singer.

Self-Motivation 

• Have you heard the tale of the hare and the tortoise? Who won the race despite being slow? The tortoise did. The secret was that the tortoise stayed positive, kept moving forward, and conquered all obstacles without losing hope. 
• Self-motivation is the inner drive that pushes us to accomplish our goals, find happiness, and enhance our lives. It's the power to do what needs to be done without external pressure. Here are a few instances of self-motivation.

• People are motivated by various factors at different times in their lives.

Types of Motivation

Qualities of Self-motivated People 

Self-motivated people often exhibit the following typical behaviors:

• Mr. E. Shreedharan, Former Managing Director, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, was a self-driven and dynamically charged individual.
• Through his commitment and esteem for others, he inspired his team to strive diligently and attain outcomes.
• Mahashay Dharmapal Gulati, the originator of Mahashian Di Hatti (MDH) Private Limited, commenced with a modest store in Karol Bagh.
• With his concentration, dedication, and lucid concepts, MDH (Spice Company) evolved into one of India's most celebrated brands while also maintaining a commendable reputation globally.

There are four steps for building self-motivation, which are as given below:

Self-regulation— Goal Setting

Goals and Setting SMART Goals

A person was traveling and came to a crossroads. He asked an older person, "Where does this road lead?" The older person inquired, "Where do you aim to reach?" The traveler replied, "I'm unsure." The older individual advised, "Then choose any path. Why does it matter?" It's a profound truth. When we lack direction, any path will suffice. Thus, in life, it's crucial to have a clear idea of our objectives and desired destinations.

• Goals: They represent a collection of wishes with a deadline for achieving them. For instance, setting aside money to purchase a preferred cell phone by a specific date.
• Goal setting: Involves identifying and outlining your objectives, followed by devising strategies to realize them. Goals help you distinguish what truly matters, enabling you to concentrate on the ultimate outcome rather than less significant tasks. This approach fosters success in both your professional and personal life.

How to Establish Goals? 

Utilizing the SMART technique is a valuable method for establishing goals.
SMART is an acronym for:

• Specific: A clear goal answers key questions like Who, What, Where, When, Which, and Why. For example, instead of saying "I want to learn English," you could say "I aim to speak English fluently. I will achieve this by attending coaching classes daily after school. In six months, I will participate in an inter-school debate."
• Measurable: A measurable goal provides answers to questions like "How much?" or "How many?" It also clarifies how you will know when you have succeeded. For instance, instead of stating "I want to be rich," a measurable goal could be "By the end of this year, I aim to have five times more money than I currently possess."
• Achievable:Making big goals achievable involves breaking them down into smaller, manageable parts. Instead of saying "I want to be a teacher in my school," it could be approached as a series of achievable steps.
  • Breaking it into smaller goals:
• Objective:
  • Complete high school
  • Finish college
  • Complete a Bachelor of Education degree
  • Apply for teaching jobs
• Realistic: A realistic goal is something we aim for and can work on achieving. For instance, a goal like "I will study my entire year's coursework in one day and score well" is unrealistic. On the other hand, a realistic goal could be "I dedicate 3 hours daily after school throughout the year to review my subjects and excel in exams."
• Time bound: A SMART goal should have a set timeframe for accomplishment. Having a deadline motivates us to take steps to reach our goals completely. For instance, a goal without a time frame such as "I hope to lose 10 kg someday" lacks specificity. In contrast, a time-bound goal would be "I aim to shed 10 kg within the next 6 months."