Unit 2: Self-management Skills — Notes, MCQs & Practice Questions

Session 1: Stress Management

Stress: our emotional, mental, physical and social reaction to any perceived demand or threat.

Stressors: the demands or threats that cause stress.

ABC of Stress Management:

• A — Adversity (the stressful event).
• B — Beliefs (the way you respond to the event).
• C — Consequences (actions and outcomes of the event).

Benefits of Stress Management:

• A joyful life.
• Focus and completion of tasks on time.
• Being happy and stress-free.
• More energy and quality time with family and friends.

Three Steps to Manage Stress:

• Step 1 — Be aware that you are stressed.
• Step 2 — Identify what is causing you stress.
• Step 3 — Apply stress management methods.

Stress Management Techniques:

• Time management.
• Physical exercise and fresh air.
• Healthy diet.
• Positivity.
• Organising academic life; no delaying.
• Adequate sleep (at least 7 hours).
• Holidays with family and friends.

Ability to Work Independently:

• Becoming self-aware, self-monitoring and self-correcting.
• Knowing what you need to do.
• Taking initiative rather than being told what to do.
• Recognising mistakes without blaming others.
• Having the ability and will to learn continuously.

Emotional Intelligence: the ability to identify and manage one's own emotions and the emotions of others.

• Emotional awareness — identifying and naming one's own emotions.
• Harnessing emotions — applying emotions to tasks like thinking and problem solving.
• Managing emotions — regulating one's own emotions and helping others do the same.

Steps to Manage Emotional Intelligence:

• Understand your emotions.
• Rationalise — avoid abrupt decisions.
• Practise — meditation and yoga to stay calm.

Session 2: Self-awareness — Strength and Weakness Analysis

Self-awareness: the ability to identify your own strengths and weaknesses.

Knowing Yourself (elements):

• Beliefs
• Background
• Opinions
• Likes/dislikes
• Values

Finding Strengths:

• Think of anything you are always successful at.
• Think about what others like in you.
• Take time to think about what you do well.

Finding Weaknesses:

• Point out areas where you struggle.
• Look at feedback others usually give you.
• Be open to feedback and accept weaknesses as areas of improvement.

Interests vs Abilities:

• Interests — things you like doing in free time or are curious about.
• Abilities — an acquired or natural capacity that lets you perform a task with proficiency.

Session 3: Self-motivation

Self-motivation: the force within you that drives you to do things without anyone or anything influencing you.

Types of Motivation:

• Internal Motivation (Love) — doing things because they make us happy, healthy and feel good.
• External Motivation (Reward) — doing things because they give us respect, recognition and appreciation.

Qualities of Self-motivated People:

• Know what they want from life.
• Are focussed.
• Know what is important.
• Are dedicated to fulfil their dreams.

Building Self-motivation (4 Steps):

• Find your strengths and identify your likes/dislikes.
• Define the goals you want to achieve and focus your energy on them.
• Develop a plan with timelines to achieve your goals.
• Stay loyal to your goals and work towards them even in difficult times.

Session 4: Self-regulation — Goal Setting

Goals: a set of dreams with a deadline to achieve them.

Goal Setting: finding and listing your goals and planning how to achieve them.

SMART Goals:

• Specific — clearly answers who, what, where, when, which means and why.
• Measurable — answers "how much", "how many" and how you'll know it's achieved.
• Achievable — big goals broken down into smaller, doable parts.
• Realistic — something you can genuinely work towards.
• Time-bound — has a clear timeframe for completion.

Session 5: Self-regulation — Time Management

Time Management: the ability to plan and control how you spend the hours of your day.

Benefits of Time Management:

• Completing tasks on time.
• Making a daily timetable.
• Estimating how long a task will take.
• Submitting homework and assignments on time.
• Avoiding wastage of time.

Four Steps for Effective Time Management:

• Organise — plan day-to-day activities and follow a timetable.
• Prioritise — make a to-do list ranked by importance.
• Control — control your activities and time; avoid time-wasters.
• Track — identify and note where you spent your time.

Tips for Practising Time Management:

• Avoid delay or postponing planned activities.
• Organise your room and school desk.
• Develop a "No Disturbance Zone" for important tasks.
• Use waiting time productively.
• Prepare a to-do list and prioritise.
• Replace useless activities with productive ones.