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Tips for Practicing the Four Steps for Effective Time Management

u Avoid delay or postponing any planned activity.
u Organise your room and school desk.
u Develop a ‘NO DISTURBANCE ZONE’, where you can sit and complete important tasks.

u Use waiting time productively.
u Prepare a ‘To-do’ list.
u Prioritise.
u Replace useless activities with productive activities.
SELF-REGULATION

Self-regulation can be defined as the ability to control one’s behaviour,
emotions, and thoughts in the pursuit of long-term goals. More specifically,
emotional self-regulation refers to the ability to manage disruptive emotions Self-Regulation
and impulses.
Self-regulation is like an invisible magic. You cannot see it or smell it, but
Emotional
its effects are amazing. It can transform fat into slim, ignorant into expert, Willpower Regulation
Executive
poor into rich, misery into happiness. It prepares you for that bumpy ride Functioning Self-Control
Flexibility
all the way to the shore. It makes you happier and gives you that sense of Effortful Control Self-Management
real achievement earned through sheer intensity of sustained focus. If you
really want to succeed at a task then self-regulation is essential. It is easy to
feel that success comes easily; that it is just a question of self-belief. But anyone who has achieved anything has
done so because they have been able to control and direct their own inner lives and actions to the extent that
has enabled them to become proficient at what they do.

Strategies for Self-regulation

If self-regulation is so important, why were most of us never taught strategies for using this skill? Most often
we all expect to do this naturally. While this is true for the most part, all children and adults can benefit from
learning these concrete strategies for self-regulation.

z Mindfulness: Mindfulness involves the cultivation of moment-to-moment awareness through deep
breathing. This helps with self-regulation by allowing you to delay gratification and manage emotions. In
a 2018 review of 27 research studies, mindfulness was shown to have an effect on attention, which in turn
helped to regulate feelings and higher-order thinking.

z Cognitive Reappraisal: Cognitive reappraisal is a strategy that can be used to improve self-regulation abilities.
This strategy involves changing your thought patterns. cognitive reappraisal means thinking about a situation
in an adaptive way, rather than one that is likely to increase negative emotions. For example, imagine a friend
did not return your calls or texts for several days. Rather than thinking that this reflected something about
yourself, such as “my friend hates me,” you might instead think, “my friend must be really busy.”

z Acceptance and problem-solving: Another strategy for self-regulation is acceptance of a situation and then
finding ways to tackle it. Till the time we accept a problem, we will not get down to find its solution. Once
acceptance comes the solution to the problem is easy to find. For this self-regulation and open-minded
attitude are required. people who are adept at self-regulating tend to see the good in others, view challenges
as opportunities, and can calm themselves when upset and cheer when feeling down.

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