Self-Management Skills-II

     PART-A: Employability SKILLS

     UNIT-2 (Self- Management Skills-II)

Session-1 (Stress and its Effects)

Introduction to Self Management:

• Self management means managing yourself to achieve your goals and targets. or Self- management means handling thoughts, and actions in a positive and
  
  
  effective way.
• It includes self-control, self- motivation, and goal setting.
• People with strong self-management skills are often more successful, both in their personal and professional lives.
• Employers highly value individuals with this skill.

Meaning of Managing Oneself

• Every task begins with thinking and a plan to do it.
• Example: While preparing for exams, we:  
• Plan our study time and materials.  
• Decide which topics are more important.   
•  Follow a schedule (time table).  
• This process is an example of self-management.

Importance of Self-Management

• Self-management helps us achieve our goals effectively.
• Many people make good plains but fails to follow them due to lack of self-discipline. 
• Instead of blaming luck or others, they should work on managing their own actions and habits.
• Planning is the first step, but self-management helps us execute that plan.

Example: 

You must sleep early at night.

Wake up on time.

Maintain a healthy routine.

Failing to manage these actions means failure in achieving your goal.

 Benefits of Self-Management:

1. Inspiring personality

2. Ability to identify weaknesses and work on them.

3. Understanding and using strengths

4. Self-respect, respect for others, and self motivation

5. Better results with less effort

6. Success in studies, sports, and career

7. Social admiration and popularity.

Understanding Stress

• Stress is a feeling caused by pressures from studies, responsibilities, or environment.
• A person following a disciplined routine with goals and positivity is likely to manage stress better.
• Students feel stress due to syllabus exams, and activities. 
• Professionals feel stress from job demands and responsibilities. 

How Stress Management Helps Us

• Helps in good sleep
• Stops unhealthy habits like overeating
• Brings control over body weight
• Improves physical and mental health
• Boosts productivity 
• Improves mood and personality
• builds better relationships with others.

Types of Stress- 

? Is Stress Always Bad?

No! Stress is not always bad. There are two main types of stress.

1. Eustress(Positive Stress)

• Eustress is good stress that keeps us motivated and energized. 
• It helps us stay focused and perform better.

Features:

• Short-term and manageable
• Brings excitement and positivity
• Boosts performance and concentration.

Examples:

Getting Promoted, Winning a competition, Passing an exam, Receiving a surprise gift, Meeting an old friend, and getting a new job.

 Common Effects of Stress:

     Positive Stress(Eustress):

• Increases Performance
• Boosts good focus
• Helps in completing tasks with enthusiasm
• Brings positive energy and motivation.

    Negative Stress (Distress): 

• Reaction of body to harmful or imagined situations 
• Can be real or imagined
• Affects both physically and psychologically.

      Common Physical Effects of Distress: (Headache, Muscular tension, Fatigue, Chest pain, Upset Stomach, Disturbed sleep, and Low energy.

    Common Psychological Effects of Distress: Anxiety, Feeling demotivated, Loss of attention, Depression, Frustration, Angry outbursts, Drug and alcohol abuse, Social withdrawal, and overreaction.

Consequence of Long-Term Distress(Chronic Distress): 

• Depends on : Age , profession, living conditions, health, and willpower.
• Stress may seem silent but grows over time.
• Normal daily routine can also invite stress.
• Long-term distress affects physical and mental health seriously.

Distress Due to Work/Studies

1. Stress Depends on Profession:

• The type of profession or work you do decides how much stress you may have.
• For students, the amount of study, tasks, and assignments are the main reasons for stress.
• As children grow up, their responsibilities, subjects, discipline, and competition increase.

2. Long-Term Distress in Students

Some unfortunate events can cause long-term distress in students: (Death of a loved one, Cyberbullying or bullying at school, Ragging in hostels, Serious diseases, and emotional stress)

3. Distress in Working Professionals: 

For professional, stress often comes along with work.

Common causes of work-related stress:(High performance expectations, short deadlines, job insecurity, conflicts in the team, Travelling conditions, lack of required skills or confidence, Delay in salary, and Job satisfaction issues)

4. Stress for working Mothers

• Working mothers face double stress: 
• Managing office work plus household responsibilities 
• Taking care of children, home, family, and balancing with friend and relations.
• This causes a lot of stress.
• Demands work demands  a lot of stamina and energy.

Internal Distress: 

• Caused by anxiety, fear of big losses(e.g., financial loss, bankruptcy).
• Thoughts of worry, unnecessary fear, unrealistic expectations.
• Worries about future or fear of serious illness.
• Builds up slowly inside and becomes a habit it not handled.
• If uncontrolled, it can cause: Headache, Heartache, Insomnia (Sleeplessness), Memory loss, Chronic anxiety, High blood pressure, Loss of focus.

  Stress Due to Surroundings

• Our environment and surroundings can cause eustress or distress.
• Depends on quality of surroundings and work/living conditions.

                                       A. Quality of Surroundings:

              Noisy/Quiet, Clean/Dirty, Polluted/Clean, Crowded/Organized, Quality of life

                                       B. Work and Living Conditions:

                Quiet/Distractions, Congested/Spacious, Interactions, Tidy/Shabby

• Stress Due to Sudden Need of Survival(Trauma Response)

1. Sometimes sudden disasters(accidents, earthquakes, life-threatening situations) create instant stress.
2. The body's nervous system reacts automatically: Fight(face it), Flight(escape) or Freeze (cannot respond).
3. The sympathetic nervous system controls fight-or-flight by releasing epinephrine(adrenaline).
4. This prepare the body: energy increase, heartbeat rises, muscles tighten, mouth dries, liver works faster, blood vessels shrink, pupils widen, reflexes sharpen.
5. After the danger, the parasympathetic nervous system releases acetylcholine to bring the body back to normal (homeostasis)
6. Freeze response: The body cannot move for some time until the danger goes away.
7. This can happen in normal situations too, like stage fear or answering in oral tests. 
8. Fawn Response: A fourth type- the victim tries to please the threat to avoid harm. Example animals roll on back, lower ears, wag tails to look harmless.

                               Session-2 (Stress Management Techniques)

What is Stress?

• Stress cannot be fully removed from file.
• We should learn to manage it properly.

      Profession examples:

• Jobs like police, defense, firefighting train people to handle all kinds of stress.
• In schools, the timetable includes:

                a. Classroom activities 

                b. Lab work

                c. Outdoor games

                d. Movie shows

                e. Science exhibitions

                f. Story reading

                g. Contest & Competitions 

                h. Sports & performing arts (singing , drama, dance)

•  These activities reduce stress, help in personality development and boost creativity. 

                  The ABC of Stress 

 As per Dr. Martin Seligman's book learned optimism:

1. A- Adversity:

• Any situation or problem we face.
• It activates our nervous system to handle stress.

2. Beliefs: 

• How we think and deal with problems.
• Our belief system is built by how we handle tough situations.

3. C- Consequences:

• Our belief system affects our future actions.
• Pessimistic people see problem as permanent & lose hope.
• Optimistic people see problems as temporary & make plans to solve them.       

1. Healthier Lifestyle: 

• Good habits + discipline help prevent or reduce stress.
• Overdoing anything is harmful too.

Good eating habits: 

• Avoid overeating or undereating. 
• Always check food quality.

Good sleeping habits: 

• Ensure 7+ hours of sleep daily. 
• Balance screen time(TV, Online) and sleep.

Good company: 

• Stay away from people who spread negativity or discourage you. 

2. Healthier Working/Study Habits

• Be disciplined in work/study - ask: Am I planned? Do I follow a timetable?
• Set clear time and avoid postponing tasks.
• Maintain work-family balance. 
• Plan breaks and holidays.
• Stick to deadlines and your study plan.

3. Exercise Eustress Against Distress:

• Use positive stress to fight negative stress., example: if feeling low, take a break with friends.
• Celebrate small achievements- share good news with friends, feel proud.

4. Managing Environmental Stress:

• If you can't change your surroundings (home, school, office), adjust your routine to cope.
• Take nature walks or morning walks to relax your mind and refresh your body.
• Join Yoga, fitness training, or activity clubs to boost eustress(positive stress). 

5. Managing Internal Stress:

• Most internal stress comes from our own thoughts, unnecessary fears, and imagined dangers.
• Important tips: 

• Keep a positive attitude- because fake fears grow with negative thinking. 
• Learn the difference between being angry, being aggressive, and being firm. 
• Manage your time- know the difference between relaxing and wasting time.
• Quit smoking, alcohol, and any others bad habit. 

                       Session -3 (Ability to Work Independently)

1. Importance of Ability to Work Independently:

• Most tasks need teamwork, but sometimes you must work alone.
• Working independently means doing your work without help from others.
• Example: If you are in the Green Club and need to collect money to plant trees, we do it yourself.

    2. What does Being Independent Mean?: We work independently when we:

• Know your strengths and weaknesses.
• Can give priority to your tasks.
• Always do your best.
• Take responsibility for your mistakes.
• Keep a positive attitude about work.

3. Skills to Work Independently:

• Organizational Skills: Understand what is needed and plan your work.
• Personal Character: Be honest and keep your promises.
• Multitasking : Do many tasks at the same time and finish them.
• Knowing Oneself: Know what you can and cannot do.
• Self-discipline & Self-regulation: Manage your time and work yourself.
• Communication & Negotiation: Talk clearly, discuss and solve problems without help.
• Agility: Ability to adjust to changing situations and use time in an effective way.
• Handing Failures and Setbacks:          

1.  See failures as a chance to learn. 
2. Take feedback positively and responsibility for mistakes. 

    Interest vs Ability: 

• We like to do things that interest us.
• But only doing interesting things can make us ignore important work.
• Many tasks may not interest us but we must do them.
• Knowing our strengths and weaknesses helps us do better.

Self Awareness: 

• Knowing your strengths, weaknesses, beliefs, limits, likes, dislikes.
• Helps you stay happy, confident, and productive. 
• Helps you understand your values and behavior.

                              Types of Self Awareness: 

A. Internal Self Awareness: 

• Knowing your values, beliefs, passions, and standards.
• Builds your attitude.

 B. External Self Awareness: 

• Knowing how others see you.
• Helps improve yourself and your leadership skills.
• Understands why people like or dislike.
• Helps do tasks in a better way.

How to Become Self Aware? Tips to Become Self Aware.

1. Spend some quiet time with yourself.
2. Think deeply about what you have done in the past days.
3. Listen carefully when people talk to you- don't interrupt.
4. Ask for feedback from others about yourself and your work.
5. Note down feedback in a diary.

Knowing your Strengths and Weaknesses: 

• Analyze your work and results.
• Talk to parents, friends, and teachers.
• Ask yourself: What motivates you? What does not? What are you good at?
• Weaknesses can be about: (Your personality, Your way of working or studying, How you interact with others, How you control your emotions.

Self Motivation and Self Regulation: 

• Motivation: The power to move from thinking to doing.
• Self-Motivation: Your inner power to turn thoughts into actions.
• Your strengths increases your motivation.
• Right Self Awareness: Helps your turn your ideas into real actions.

Working Independently and S.M.A..RT. Goals

• The core of working independently is setting goals.
• Write down your goals. Keep them specific and clear.
• Break big goals into monthly, weekly, or daily targets.
• Targets help you achieve your main goal step by step.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

The word S.M.A.R.T. means: 

S-Specific 

M- Measurable

A- Achievable

R- Realistic

T- Time-bound

1. Specific: 

• A target must clearly say what you will finish.
• Example: I will prepare 4 main topics of Chapter 4 in Biology on June 13th.

2. Measurable: 

• A clear target help you measure your progress.
• Example: If you complete the 4 topics by June 13th, the target is achieved.

3. Achievable: 

• Set targets that match your ability and situation.
• Do not plan more than what you can realistically complete.
• Example: Preparing more than 4 topics in a day may not be possible.