Managing Your Time and Yourself-MANUAL

Do you ever feel under too much pressure with too many things to do?Do you feel that you are under stress too much of the time?Do you ever feel disorganized?Do you sometimes feel that your life is "out of control"?Do you sometimes sense a lack of direction or uncertainty about goals?Do you have goals, but feel ineffective about meeting them?Do you feel guilty about procrastination or ineffectiveness?Have you tried a time-management system that is only partially effective?

OBJECTIVES OF THIS MANUAL

ACCOMPLISH MORE, BE MORE RELAXED, AND HAVE MORE FUNLearn O-PATSM self-management system. This is a system which has beenused by several thousand people. Feedback on the system's usefulness hasbeen very positive.Get control of your own time and life by filling the GAP BETWEEN yourVALUES/GOALS and MOMENT-TO-MOMENT ACTIONS with WRITTENOBJECTIVES AND "TO DO"s which keep accountable to yourself. You will no

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longer forget or loose sight of your goals and direction if you use the O-PATSMSYSTEM.Do more of the things that are REALLY IMPORTANT TO YOUBE MORE RELAXED--REDUCE STRESS. Good time management of all of theimportant conflicting demands in one's life is one of the most effective waysof reducing stress from too many conflicting demands.Not spend too much time on PATSM itself. Not become "overorganized" or toocompulsive about list-making.

OUR RESEARCH ON LIFE SKILLS AND PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS

We have been conducting research on several thousand people relating lifeskills such as various cognitive, self-management, and interpersonal skills tosuccess criteria such as success in college, success in career, success ininterpersonal relationships, and personal happiness.Among our many findings showing how these life skills relate to life success arefindings showing a STRONG RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EFFECTIVE TIMEMANAGEMENT BEHAVIORS AND OVERALL PERSONAL HAPPINESS.

ALTERNATIVES TO GOOD SELF-MANAGEMENT

* EXTERNALLY CONTROLLED.

Allowing all the pressures from others,demanding tasks, and routine things to do in your life, dictate what you do.

* AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR and PROCRASTINATION.

Avoiding the reallyimportant things in life because they are unpleasant or overwhelming; orbecause you don't know how to do them.

* POOR SELF-MANAGEMENT METHODS.

Keeping "to do" lists that are notprioritized, that you lose, that don't include the personal or fun things, notwriting objectives, or not using your lists well are examples of incompletemethods which will not work! Compulsive overplanning with too much detail--requiring too much time--also may not work at all.

WHY O-PATSM WORKS

Do you ever wonder WHY you are not quite as happy or successful as youmight like to be? There are many reasons of course, but perhaps some simplepsychological principles will help you understand more about some of theunderlying causes. Refer to figure 1 as you read the following.

THE VALUES-EMOTIONS LINK

THE DEGREE OF YOUR HAPPINESS IS DIRECTLY DETERMINED BY THE DEGREEOF SATISFACTION OF YOUR VALUES. This is one of the most important principlesto remember. It is both actual satisfaction of values and ANTICIPATEDsatisfaction that is important.

* VALUES ARE:

Some are directly related to basic biological needs such as needs for water,food, activity, stimulation, sex, warmth, and air. All values have a stronglearning or conditioning component.

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Previous positive and negative conditioning has a strong effect on how positiveyou feel about something now. For example a liking or disliking of math may bea direct result of positive and negative experiences with math.Maslow's famous hierarchy of values shows how once people satisfy morebasic values they tend to seek "higher" values. Persons may have greatindividual differences in values due to very different learning histories.Returnto INDEX

* EMOTIONS & SELF-CONFIDENCE

Include positive ones such as happiness, joy, love, relaxation and negativeones such as unhappiness/depression, anxiety/stress/fear/guilt, andanger/frustration/resentment.ANTICIPATION OF INTERNAL CONTROL OVER VALUES SATISFACTION is a keyfactor in determining emotions and SELF-CONFIDENCE.Use of a good self-management system such as O-PATSM can increase yourself-confidence or self-esteem on a number of ways due to INCREASEDCONTROL OVER VALUES SATISFACTION which it brings. When you writeobjectives you will have a greater confidence that you will truly accomplishwhat you want and SPEND MORE OF YOUR TIME DOING WHAT YOU REALLYWANT.

AUTOMATIC HABITS ARE USEFUL BUT MAY PREVENT INCREASEDHAPPINESS

* AUTOMATIC HABITS are:learned sets of thoughts & behaviors for satisfyinggoals & values.* HABITS MAY BE COMPLEX. A tennis serve, problem-solving methods, playingthe piano, driving, a social interaction habit are examples of complex learnedautomatic habits.* HABITS ARE USUALLY AUTOMATIC. We do them "unconscious" of why or whenor how we do them. This is useful, but one of the dangers of habits.

There may be actions which would make us happier; however, alternative actions might make us happier! Therefore fail to actualize our potential success and happiness.

Return to INDEX

THE O-PATSM SYSTEM BRIDGES THE GAP BETWEEN VALUES ANDACTIONS

The haphazard and unconscious connection between values and actionsleaves a self-management gap for most people.In O-PATSM conscious thought and written lists bridge that gap.In O-PATSM there is follow-up and self-feedback to keep on track, avoidforgetting, and grow.

==> CAREFULLY STUDY THE FIGURE ON PATSM BELOW TO SEE HOW:

1) MAKING A VALUES CHECKLIST2) WRITING GENERAL GOALS3) WRITING A LIST OF 6-MONTH PERSONAL OBJECTIVES (The "O"), AND4) USING

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