Self-Management Handbook

A handbook for effective self-management.

This handbook is currently in progress. To receive updates on my writing and be notified when this handbook is published, subscribe to my newsletter.

Why This Handbook Exists

This serves as quick reference material for me on managing myself.

Notes

What is happiness?

According to Neil Pasricha, happiness is the joy you feel while striving toward your potential. Scientific studies defined happiness as “subjective well-being.”

Happiness as “living in the present.”

When you say, “I’m happy but” or “I’ll be happy when,” you’re not living in the present moment. When you’re striving for happiness, there’s often a gap between what you have and what you want. Some unhappiness comes from living in the past or living in the future, but you have to look backward to learn.

Reflection and mediation

According to positive psychology studies, we should all be doing activities like nature walks, journaling, and meditation to improve our happiness. But we don’t because we waste our 40-percent time on our screens (phones, computers, TVs, etc.).

Practicing daily gratitude can make you happier and healthier. Gratitude can bring you into the present moment and reduce anxiety.

Create your own space for reflection and confession.

Untouchable days.

Carve out one day on a recurring basis (e.g. 1x per week) as an untouchable day where you can focus on what ever you want with no distractions from the world. Block them in your calendar and plan them four to six months in advance. If you can’t do a full day, do a few mornings.

Create a work-life flywheel.

There is no such thing as work-life balance. Balance assumes a scale that when one side goes down, the other side goes up. The relationship between work and life is more like a flywheel. A flywheel is a continuous energy device. The more energy you put in, the more energy you can create for both work and life.

Beware retirement

It can rob you of social connection and relationships, stimulation of learning, and the purpose that comes with being part of something bigger than yourself. According to Fortune, the two most dangerous years of our lives are the year we are born and the year we retire.

Questions

• If a competent CEO got to run your life for a month, what is the first thing they would eliminate?

Quotes

• “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” —Aristotle

• “Life loves the liver of it.” —Maya Angelou

• “Less, but better - because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity.” —Dieter Rams

Resources

This section contains a curated list of books, articles, and other materials that contributed to this handbook:

• Getting back to basics

• Notes and Takeaways from Managing Oneself

• Notes and Takeaways from Ego Is the Enemy

• Notes and Takeaways from Who Moved My Cheese?

• Notes and Takeaways from Indistractable

• Notes and Takeaways from Leadership and Self-Deception

• Notes and Takeaways from Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator

• Notes on the difference between winning and succeeding by John Wooden

• Notes and Takeaways from The Psychology of Focus via NFX

• Notes on Neil Pasricha: Happy Habits

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