O-patsm- A Self Time Management System

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 been used byseveral thousand people. Feedback on the system's usefulness has been very positive.Get control of your own time and life by filling the GAP BETWEEN your VALUES/GOALS and MOMENT-TO-MOMENT ACTIONS with WRITTEN OBJECTIVESAND "TO DO"s which keep accountable to yourself. You will no longer forget or loosesight of your goals and direction if you use the O-PATSM SYSTEM.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 ways of reducingstress from too many conflicting demands.Not spend too much time on PATSM itself. Not become "overorganized" or too

compulsive about list-making.

OUR RESEARCH ON LIFE SKILLS AND PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS

We have been conducting research on several thousand people relating life skills such asvarious cognitive, self-management, and interpersonal skills to success criteria such assuccess in college, success in career, success in interpersonal relationships, and personalhappiness.Among our many findings showing how these life skills relate to life success are findingsshowing a STRONG RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENTBEHAVIORS 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 really important thingsin life because they are unpleasant or overwhelming; or because you don't know how to dothem.

* POOR SELF-MANAGEMENT METHODS.

Keeping "to do" lists that are not prioritized,that you lose, that don't include the personal or fun things, not writing objectives, or notusing your lists well are examples of incomplete methods which will not work! Compulsiveoverplanning 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 you might like tobe? There are many reasons of course, but perhaps some simple psychological principleswill help you understand more about some of the underlying causes. Refer to figure 1 asyou 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 principles toremember. It is both actual satisfaction of values and ANTICIPATED satisfaction that isimportant.

* 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 strong learning or conditioningcomponent.Previous positive and negative conditioning has a strong effect on how positive you feelabout something now. For example a liking or disliking of math may be a direct result of positive and negative experiences with math.Maslow's famous hierarchy of values shows how once people satisfy more basic valuesthey tend to seek "higher" values. Persons may have great individual differences in valuesdue to very different learning histories.

* EMOTIONS & SELF-CONFIDENCE

Include positive ones such as happiness, joy, love, relaxation and negative ones such asunhappiness/depression, anxiety/stress/fear/guilt, and anger/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 your self-confidence or self-esteem on a number of ways due to INCREASED CONTROL OVERVALUES SATISFACTION which it brings. When you write objectives you will have agreater confidence that you will truly accomplish what you want and SPEND MORE OFYOUR TIME DOING WHAT YOU REALLY WANT.

AUTOMATIC HABITS ARE USEFUL BUT MAY PREVENT INCREASED HAPPINESS

* AUTOMATIC HABITS are learned sets of thoughts & behaviors for satisfying goals &values.* HABITS MAY BE COMPLEX. A tennis serve, problem-solving methods, playing thepiano, driving, a social interaction habit are examples of complex learned automatic habits.* HABITS ARE USUALLY AUTOMATIC. We do them "unconscious" of why or when or howwe do them. This is useful, but one of the dangers of habits. There may be actions whichwould make us happier; however, alternative actions might make us happier! Thereforefail to actualize our potential success and happiness.

THE O-PATSM SYSTEM BRIDGES THE GAP BETWEEN VALUES AND ACTIONS

The haphazard and unconscious connection between values and actions leaves 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, avoid forgetting, andgrow.

==> 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

P

= PRIORITIZED,

A

= ALL AREAS of life

T

= TO DO (or task) lists.

S

= SELF-MANAGEMENT SESSIONS weekly for about 1 hour.

M

= MOMENT-TO-MOMENT USE of these lists to guide actions.CAN BRIDGE THE

VALUES-ACTION GAP,

and help you ACCOMPLISH MORE, HAVEMORE FUN, AND ENJOY LIFE MORE!

Category:	Research
Rating:
Upload Date:	01/12/2009
Copyright:	Attribution Non-commercial
Tags:	This document has no tags.

Documents

People