Self-organization is the process of ordering elements due to internal factors, without specific external influence. This is the most general definition of the term, which, in many ways, will serve us. After all, it can be transferred to self-education, in which the educational process or its individual parts need to be able to organize independently, based on individual goals, availability of time, and the specifics of the educational material.
This is not a separate task facing everyone who asks questions of self-education, but a valuable skill of a modern person. And further in this lesson we will describe the stages of formation and its components; creating your own algorithm to help you follow your training plan.
Self-organization: from skill to lifestyle
There are many interpretations of the concept of “self-organization”. Most often, self-organization refers to the ability to organize oneself, one’s time, one’s actions. In other words, self-organization is the ability to organize the resources at our disposal.
As part of the training and in this lesson in particular, we will talk about self-organization as a skill. Meanwhile, this is not entirely true, although for convenience we will use this definition. Self-organization to some extent is the consolidation of several skills.
In most of its interpretations, it includes, and, therefore, is closely related to such skills as self-discipline, time management, organizational abilities (with the prefix “self”, of course - we are not talking about organizing events, but about developing the necessary qualities, such as punctuality, inclination to order and planning, prioritization, proper organization of space). At the same time, everything written will be true to one degree or another in relation to self-education, but you need to understand that self-organization develops as a lifestyle, and not as a separate element that makes it up.
Based on this, self-organization as a skill should be developed comprehensively. Moreover, it needs to be constantly maintained in an active state, a system of control and response to changes, both internal and external.
Psychologists and teachers, when defining the process of self-organization, identify the following functional components in it: goal setting, situation analysis, planning, self-control, volitional regulation and correction. In fact, they can also be regarded as stages that must be completed to develop a skill. And then hone it, flexibly customizing it for different tasks throughout life.
It should be understood that theory is needed only to obtain a general idea and structure knowledge. Below we will also describe some practical aspects, from the totality of which “everyday” self-organization, necessary for any successful activity (including self-education), is actually built.
Why is it important to plan time?
Time is the only irreplaceable resource. For example, if a person’s money is missing, then this is, of course, unpleasant, but you can always earn it, thereby making up for the loss. There is little pleasant in this situation, but there is always a way out of it. Time cannot be returned. No one has ever been able to go back in time to correct the mistakes of their youth. We only have the present. “Here and now” is the slogan of self-confident, successful people. Losers live either in the past or in the future, they constantly miss out on the real opportunities that life offers at the moment.
The theory of self-organization implies that a person who has realized the need for clear planning of his activities will relentlessly control his own desires and monitor the time intervals that it takes to complete a particular activity. As a rule, such people have high goals and want to become successful.
Stages of creating a self-organization system
The creation of any self-organization system requires the mandatory completion of the following stages:
Goal setting
The challenge of becoming organized must be achieved by setting small goals and achieving them. The importance of the ability to set goals in self-education was discussed in the first lesson. The situation is similar in such an aspect as self-organization - this is where work in this direction should begin. Essentially, you need to answer two global questions. First - what to work on first? Since everyone will approach the creation of their own system of self-organization with different experience, skills and personal qualities, the starting point and the tasks with which to begin will be different. Second, what should be the outcome of the work?
Analysis of the situation
This stage is an examination, the purpose of which is to determine the initial situation and the challenges facing you. Detailed study is needed to clearly understand under what conditions you will have to develop skills, what poses the greatest difficulty, what habits and personal qualities you already have, and which ones you need to work on.
Planning
The next stage is planning your actions, creating a step-by-step action guide. Understanding the initial conditions in which to act and the presence of goals that must be achieved help in this. Stepping away from theory, it may seem difficult, but in reality, most of us can easily identify the actions we need to start taking to change, as opposed to the established state of affairs. You just need to structure them and put them into a plan.
Volitional regulation and correction
Direct action. The will and its strength are determined by a person’s actions. The ability to perform actions regardless of subjective factors, desires, laziness, etc. is an important part of developing self-organization skills. You will also often have to act contrary to established habits, change one or many aspects of your lifestyle - adjust actions if they do not bring at all or do not bring enough benefit and are not consistent with your goals.
Self-control
Self-control of behavior – control of one’s own actions and influences. Unlike situational self-control, when the actions taken depend on the conditions under which they were performed, behavioral self-control is the global ability to permanently change one’s behavior as a whole. From the point of view of self-organization, this is the ability to constantly perform specific actions, managing, or rather controlling time, state, attitude, desires, habits.
Troubleshooting
As a result of the semantic block - a small theoretical guide on how to cope with emerging obstacles. Teachers involved in the development of self-organization of activities identify several stages of working with students who encounter difficulties in developing this skill. They, of course, involve working with a teacher, but can also be useful for those who understand the topic on their own. So let's look at them briefly:
| ✔ | The diagnostic stage is the identification and fixation of the problem. Establishing its causes - lack of personal knowledge, experience, external factors, conditions. In other words, at this stage you need to clearly identify what causes the greatest difficulties and “doesn’t work out”, and try to find the causes of these factors. |
| ✔ | The search stage is the identification of possible ways to solve the problem. Drawing up a plan to eliminate the causes. |
| ✔ | The active stage is the action phase, practical steps aimed at implementing the plan from the second stage. |
| ✔ | The reflective stage is the identification of strengths and weaknesses and actions taken. Their subsequent correction to maximize the results achieved. |
It is equally important to have an idea of the abilities that play a role in self-organization.
Positive attitude
A positive attitude is a characteristic trait of a successful person. In this sense, it is useful to have a dream, as well as clearly visualize how it will come true
Next, it is important to tune in to a new task in such a way that you don’t need it, but so that you really want to do it. That is, you need to change “need” to “want”
That is, you need to try to interest yourself. Finally, take it and make a vision board near your workplace. There you can post your long-term goals.
Personally, I made a piggy bank in the shape of coffee cups on the kitchen windowsill. Every evening when I come home, I put the change that I have left over from my daily budget into these cups. This way I am saving money for a future coffee shop. Thus, my dream is always before my eyes, I started with easy and small steps towards the goal - saving money. And my steps towards the goal are feasible, so the desire to move in the same direction does not disappear.
In addition, your success largely depends on mental self-regulation and a general attitude to win. Usually, those who are used to thinking optimistically achieve success. The opposite statement is also true: those who consider themselves a loser usually turn out to be one. It works like a self-fulfilling prophecy. What you set your mind to is what you will get. So negative thoughts need to be driven away with a nasty broom - this is advised by many famous entrepreneurs and our psychologist Nikolai Kozlov.
If you feel that it is difficult for you to cope alone, you should find psychological support.
Required Abilities
Organization is the cultivation of certain qualities and habits. We, one way or another, wrote about their development in other trainings and numerous blog articles. Therefore, here we present only a short list. Many of his points may seem unrelated to the topic of self-education, but don’t let this confuse you - self-organization is a skill that goes beyond the scope of training, requiring, as mentioned above, complex development.
Self-discipline
Self-discipline is the ability to force yourself to take action regardless of your emotional state. In other words, these are specific steps that you take after setting a goal to achieve it, regardless of desires, conditions and external factors. Some information about what self-discipline is, what elements it consists of and how to develop it was given in the article linked above. We hope it will be useful in matters of self-education, from the point of view of which self-discipline is not something fundamentally different.
Determination
Let us separately consider such a quality as determination, which can be both an aspect of self-discipline and an independent characteristic of a person. From the point of view of self-education, determination interests us as the ability to act without “swinging” and “switching on”. In other words, this is a more specific skill, in comparison with self-discipline, which implies not the action itself, but the very speed of the undertaking, the absence of doubts, uncertainty, “creative suffering,” etc.
If you work in a team (with other people), then you have probably noticed that your colleagues, based on their actions in the morning, can be divided into 2 categories - those who come to the office and immediately get into work, and those who need time to “ “building up” (coffee, discussion of the latest news, social networks). In fact, the former are almost always more organized than the latter. You need to develop this ability in yourself: get up at the first alarm, get down to business without delay or imaginary excuses, follow the plan. This can be scary, but over time it becomes a habit and becomes automatic.
Planning
Organization and planning in some cases can be synonymous. Without careful study, assessment and actions taken on their basis, you should not count on success in any area of life, be it work or self-education. At the same time, with self-study, planning is not only drawing up a plan and training program, distributing the load, but also integrating the entire process of self-study into your life, allocating sufficient time for these needs and coordinating them with other aspects of activity.
Maintaining a daily routine
The daily routine is a fundamental element of not only planning, but also organizing life, without needing a long introduction. After all, without a general routine, there can be no talk of any specifics. Bringing a bit of organization into the daily chaos of affairs is incredibly difficult. And, on the contrary, with a global add-on in the form of a daily routine, it will be easier to follow the class schedule.
Equipped workplace and space in general
A properly designed workplace increases productivity. The same statement will be true in the case of education - it is very good to have a corner in the house that would be dedicated to learning needs. The first commandment of its organization is maximum convenience and stimulation of the process, eliminating distractions.
Let it be a regular desk with a laptop - remove all unnecessary things that may distract or interfere with your work. Make sure that you always have everything you need at hand - pencil, pen, notebook, stationery sticky notes, etc. Avoid using your study space for diametrically opposed tasks. This may not be important, but it’s still better to study and eat in different places.
As for space in general, here you can also resort to certain tricks. For example, when learning a foreign language, in particular new words, it is recommended to make cards with them and place them around the house so that you constantly come across them and repeat them. Triggers are also used - things that motivate you to study, keep you on your toes, remind you of the goals and results you are striving for.
Fighting procrastination
“There’s no time for that now. Tired at work, no strength. I’ll reschedule until tomorrow.” This is a typical internal dialogue during procrastination or the habit of postponing until later. Obviously, in an effort to become self-organized, you should get rid of this habit. In essence, the fight against procrastination is the cultivation of determination to act. Awareness when making decisions, overcoming hesitation and taking responsibility, ranking and prioritization, goal setting, the “eating a frog” technique, and playing sports will help develop this quality.
Developing habits
Self-organization is a complex skill consisting of a combination of personal qualities and small habits. Developing habits is a process that is largely similar in nature, regardless of whether we are talking about reading professional literature for at least 15 minutes a day or cleaning the apartment weekly. Read more about developing habits in our articles “How to develop a habit” and “30 ideas for 30-day challenges to yourself.”
Organizers and other “helpers”
Numerous tools specially designed for this will help you be more organized and simply keep all the necessary data in your head, whether related to education or any other activity. Fortunately, in our information technology age there is no shortage of them.
The market offers a sufficient number of options - from workbooks and diaries tailored for specific time management systems to mini-programs and applications for smartphones and tablets. Kanban boards, electronic task lists, online calendars – a short list of categories. More specific in the field of self-education can be considered worksheets - notebooks specially designed for the needs of students. They are offered by popular MOOC platforms for more successful completion of courses.
Interactive interaction services are also developing - in an online class you can “sit” at a desk, having the opportunity to communicate with the teacher and classmates. In general, online education is now experiencing a real boom, offering many not only interesting, but also functional tools for self-development.
Efficient Operation
For work to be a joy, and for you to want to run to the office on Monday morning, it certainly has to be your favorite one. If you are tired of performing the same regulated set of certain actions day after day, think about it, perhaps you are doing the wrong thing. It's never too late to fix everything, however, you must have the necessary resources and strength.
Self-organization is the ability to build a business in such a way that it works effectively and brings benefits. Note that the average person works 40-45 hours a week. A businessman who wants to become successful spends more than 80-100 hours in seven days at work. The difference is huge. In addition, an employee sometimes lacks motivation to work productively: on Monday he begins to dream about Friday, when the weekend finally approaches. Anyone who develops his own business gets tired much less, because the activity brings joy and a state of inspiration. I want to work and improve myself.
Popular misconceptions about self-organization
Finally, here are some misconceptions that are associated with such a useful skill as self-organization. They are highlighted in the book “Self-Organization Based on the “Inside-Out” Principle” by Julia Morgenstern, a specialist in the field of personal organization and time management:
| ✔ | The ability to self-organize is an innate personality characteristic . Individuals are more disciplined and organized due to their natural abilities. This is true only to a small extent. What we're really talking about is a skill that can be developed. The process is easier for some, more difficult for others, but anyone can develop it. |
| ✔ | To become organized you need to work long and hard . There is some truth here, but in reality it is not true. Having gone through the process once and learned the necessary lessons, it will be much easier in the future. It's like cleaning a house that hasn't been cleaned for a long time. At first you need to put in a lot of effort, but in the future, if you maintain order constantly, it will not be as difficult as the first time. |
| ✔ | Self-organization is not a static process; it is impossible to maintain a certain order all the time . The order that is organized in one environment may well be irrelevant for another person in other conditions. But this will not mean that self-organization does not work in both cases. Obviously, this process needs to be adapted to the needs of different people - it will be different for an office worker and a mother with a baby. But as a skill, self-organization consists of details that are identical in all cases. It’s like a children’s construction set – you can use it to build both a house and a car. |
| ✔ | Spending time on self-organization is unproductive . After all, organization comes naturally over time; it’s enough to gradually “join the flow,” so it’s not necessary to learn it. But in this regard, everything is a little more complicated. It's not just about the order of things or the proper organization of space. Self-organization is an important component of time management and will pay off many times over, since in the future, with the development of a personal system, it will be able to help in saving time, using it rationally, and increasing efficiency. |
This lesson will only help lay the foundation for the formation of primary skills and self-organization skills, which you will need to improve on your own. We may now be voicing an unpopular thought, especially for those who believe in quick results, but we will need to work in this direction throughout our lives. The tips from this lesson are global in nature, their goal is to indicate significant issues in the development of self-organization (as well as possible problems and ways to solve them), which is closely related not only to the ability to learn, but also to any other human activity (work, leisure).
In the area of interest to us, the main attention should be paid to those aspects on which learning directly depends. The task of determining them is purely individual, but most likely, in order to successfully study on your own, you will not need to separately work on the skill of self-organization. Comprehensive work will suggest the necessary direction, which we hope you will be able to navigate thanks to these lessons.
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Family tasks
Despite the importance of professional activity, you cannot ignore your loved ones. Yes, it is very important to become successful, but if this is achieved by reducing interaction with your family and friends, then in the end the fruits of these Herculean efforts will not bring you the satisfaction you expected. The conditions of self-organization should not force you into such strict limits that you could not change if you wanted. Do more with your children, take a weekend for yourself. Let these be clearly fixed days of the week, it will be easier for everyone. And when you are not working, give your loved ones joy!
Time to rest
Never forget to recuperate on time. Otherwise, you can even reach the point of overexertion at your favorite job, which can negatively affect not only your productivity, but also your health. A copywriter, for example, should take care of the safety of his vision and correct posture. Often, from sedentary work, weight begins to increase unnoticed, so it becomes absolutely useful to do physical exercises and move more. Take reasonable breaks from work and don’t forget about your health. If you feel pain in your eyes, stop immediately.
Chaos and disorder
An explanation of chaos theory can begin with simple examples that describe its opposite - organization, stability and order.
A system described according to mathematical laws can be considered stable if, with small changes in the initial conditions and parameters, small changes in the result can be observed. For example, at a speed of 50 km/h, the driver will cover 100 km in two hours. If he drives not much slower, then the time of his trip will change by a proportional amount also insignificantly. This system is stable and simple. But the more complex the system, the more unstable it is. The objects of study of chaos theory are precisely complex, unstable structures in which, with any small changes, colossal changes result.
Analysis using OSD
A questionnaire of this kind contains several criteria characterizing a person as a regulator of activity. It determines the perception and features of time use in everyday life. The “Planning” category examines the subject’s involvement in the strategic planning of daily affairs. At the same time, the individual has his own planning principles.
The scale that reveals ambition, aspirations and the degree of concentration on one’s goals is called “Purposefulness”. The volitional efforts applied to actions are characterized by “Persistence.” “Fixation” speaks of a person’s ability to fixate on certain tasks. Temporal orientation is expressed in the “Orientation” scale.
And finally, “Self-organization” establishes the individual’s predisposition to the internal organization of activities. Each scale has several points, the total number of questions is 25. As a result, the specialist draws up a psychological diagnosis and diagram.
Comparison of hierarchy and pluralism
To preserve the established state system, a special form of self-organization is necessary. These are hierarchy (system of subordination) and pluralism (diversity and tolerance of political views and opinions). Citizens of any country need to feel involved in certain orders, built in accordance with the traditions of their society.
In a traditional hierarchy, the principle of “divide and conquer” operates, the purpose of which is to give an advantage or deprive one of the parties of equal conditions. This form of self-organization of society helps maintain the authority of power structures. In the modern world, various forms of organization operate simultaneously. Nothing prevents some hierarchical foundations from coexisting with pluralism and equality, which are the pillars of a democratic society.
