How to Manage Yourself

Self-efficacy is important to develop and build. No one can reach our goals for us. The first step to navigating any area of life is mastering the self. Be introspective, kind to yourself, and vocal about the best ways to work with co-workers. It is not too late to pick up a new routine.?

By Ciarra Maraj

Self-management is important because it affects how we show up in the world. It contributes to work ethic and self-efficacy.?

Think about the rocks, pebbles, and sand in your life. Rocks are important things that come first, pebbles are of secondary importance, and sand is everything in between. Establish the primary motivators to make managing yourself easier.

Managing emotions at work is another part of self-management. Danielle Farage is a director of growth marketing for Café, the social hub for hybrid teams. Her team is in Paris, and they have once-a-week meetings without her.?

“So it's interesting because I have to voice my opinion and voice how I'm feeling and be super vulnerable, and I think that goes with, like, managing myself,” Farage said. “I have to manage my emotions. If I'm feeling left out or like a decision's being made without me and I have to manage those emotions.?

“And that's been a really big lesson. Just don't take anything personally, any win for the company is [a] win for you. And that's great. Taking the ego out of it. I think it's been a lot of mindset work.”?

Understanding work expectations also helps navigate the day, said Bernadette Pawlik, a recruiting and career strategist.

Ease into a routine and find what works to manage yourself the best.?

The Importance of Managing Yourself

Mental health, reputation and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are reasons to master self-management.?

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory that explains human motivation in a pyramid. Read it from bottom to top. The bottom begins with physiological needs, like food, water, oxygen, and shelter, the necessities for survival. Safety needs, on the next level, include personal safety and job security. Love and belonging – including family, relationships, and friendships - follow. Esteem, self-esteem, and respect take the next tier. Self-actualization is the top step and the belief that you can achieve anything if you have the aforementioned steps.?

Reaching the top, and managing yourself, is an ongoing journey. So give yourself grace.?

“No one really knows what they're doing,” Farage said.?

Introspection is the most valuable trait to have because it leads to self-improvement.?

“I have had avoidance around money and finance a lot of my life,” Farage said. “So what I did was I started asking myself why. I went to therapy, I started talking to my friends about it. And then suddenly I was comfortable talking about it and comfortable talking about investing. And I asked my brother and he was happy to walk me through some stuff.?

“So I think just talking to people about the things that you maybe feel like you're avoiding or feel heavy.”?

As interactions happen, think about what could have been done better and apply that to future communication.?

A better handle on emotions leads to better self-advocacy.

“Be vocal first and foremost, be very honest with yourself, be very honest with your boss and your team about what you need and figure that out for yourself,” Farage said. “And I think overall, once you do that, then you understand the needs of the business and then you can actually hire or fulfill those needs.”?

As the saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water but you can not make it drink.” Achieving goals is the responsibility of the creator. Help can be given along the way, but the final result is earned. Self-management establishes the independence necessary for survival.?

Managing Yourself at Work?

Navigating self-management at work is a bit easier because the stakes are higher if tasks are incomplete. But adding unnecessary deadline pressure causes burnout and negative feelings.

Good self-management delivers good work results. So be assertive at work.

”Don't be afraid to advocate for the ways of working that work best for you because in the end, if that's what makes you more productive and creative, that benefits the company,” Farage said.?

Self-management affects work performance because it uncovers a perspective of what is important and what is not, Pawlik said.

“What's really important is developing yourself so you are ready for that next step,” Pawlik said. “What's unimportant is who has the bigger office, office gossip, getting embroiled in little superficial stuff that goes on in any office.”?

An outside source cannot do the work necessary to develop yourself.?

“No matter what you read, you are in the business of you,” Pawlik said. “...You can stagnate for that year, waiting for your boss to develop you, or you can stagnate for 10 years waiting for your companies to develop you, or you can make the business of you, your daily business,”

Bringing your best self to work requires being the best self in your personal life.?

Top Takeaways

How To Manage Yourself

• Show up for yourself before you can for others.?
• Be introspective.?
• Advocate for yourself at work.?
• Set goals and achieve them.?
• Take care of yourself. ?