Personal

Curse Code | 6N1949

LEVEL 6 & Professional
Deadline Date:
Development
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, invove meand I learn.” Benjamin
Franklin

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want
to make.” - Jane Goodall
Name: Leticia Ballesteros-Organero
Lecture name: Shirley Brooks

Table of Contents
Personal Development............................................................................................................3
Professional development.......................................................................................................3
Stress Management................................................................................................................4
What causes Stress?...........................................................................................................................4
Types of stress....................................................................................................................................5
General Stress.........................................................................................................................................................5
Cumulative Stress....................................................................................................................................................5
Acute traumatic Stress............................................................................................................................................5
Post-Traumatic Stress.............................................................................................................................................5
Example of an Stress work sheet............................................................................................................................7

Delegation..............................................................................................................................7
Goal setting.............................................................................................................................7
Time management..................................................................................................................9
Critical Reflection..................................................................................................................11
Personal Development
Is looking inward and focusing on ways to better yourself. Personal development increases your self-awareness,
your self-esteem, increases your skills, and fulfils your aspirations. (Miles, 2022)
 
“We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” - Oprah Winfrey-

In other words personal development is a time investment on your own wellbeing in order to keep healthy mind
and body. A clear example of a Personal development is my case, as a healthcare worker and after this pandemic
hitting at the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020 I felt that my personal self-esteem was going down the hill due to
my low self-awareness of my mental wellbeing. In search of harmony after all the psychologically pressure and
emotionally tough times lived during and throughout  the beginning of Covid19 times, I unconsciously found myself
always looking for an alternative job at the hospital I work for, desk position, receptionist at the ward, medical
records and even at the laboratory, until I really understood that, what I needed it was to really change carriers
definitely and for good. 

Professional development
 
Professional development refers to continuing education and career training after a person has entered the
workforce in order to help them develop new skills, stay up-to-date on current trends, and advance their career.
Many fields require professionals to participate in continuing education and ongoing learning. (Antley, 2020)
 
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
– Nelson Mandela –
Personal development and professional development in my opinion somehow are linked as mentioned above on
personal development I am in need of changing careers but for that to happens I have to build and expand my
knowledge professionally in other aspects of my already acquired administration skills by enrolling on a third level
education course that was completely out of my circle of trust. Even after finish this project I have in hands I must
need to keep myself up to date enrolling on linked courses to my job description to keep escalating and meet my
own goals. 
Stress Management

Stress is the human reaction to events in our environment (Brooks, 2022).

Stress Management is  a variety of strategies to help you better cope with stress and difficulty (adversity) in your
life (Clinic, 2022).

“We can easily manage if we will only take, each day, the burden appointed to it. But the load will be too heavy for
us if we carry yesterday's burden over again today, and then add the burden of tomorrow before we are required
to bear it.”
―John Newton―
Stress is a phenomenon that occurs when the demands of life are perceived as too difficult. The person feels
anxious and tense and the heart beats faster.
It is almost unavoidable to experience some degree of stress in life and at appropriate times it could be even
beneficial ((good stress) getting into college, winning the lottery,etc.). However, too much stress is dangerous for
health in general, since the functions of many systems of the stress can affect to your health in many different
ways.

What causes Stress?

The main Stress facts are:

 
1. Financial factor. Money is necessary to live, so if you don't have enough income could generate distress.
2. Work. If this is the case, communication is a big resource talk to your superior to find a solution. And if you're
the boss, learn to delegate.
3. Lack of job satisfaction. Feeling comfortable at work and having the opportunity to do what you love is
something that fewer employees are able to do, unfortunately.
4. Personal relationships. We all need to socialize, and when things don't go well with the people around us,
affects our mood and the way we see things.
5. Family. The first nucleus with which we have contact in our life, usually accompanies us until the end. It is
normal to want to serve them properly. Especially when grandparents or parents get older and you want to reward
them for everything they have done for you.
6. Pressure on vacation. Holidays are supposed to be enjoyed, but many people don't take it that way. What's
more, there are people who feel stress because they are not working. Others simply get nervous about getting out
of their “comfort zone”.
7. Never say “no”. Serious mistake that can bring you consequences. Learning to say "no" is much more important
than some believe
8. Not having free time. Who can afford not to have free time to enjoy and not be stressed? Much needed, or
you'll end up going crazy.
9. Obsessing over perfection. It is understandable that there are people who want everything to be perfect, the
problem is that perfection does not exist. If trying to achieve it becomes an obsession... Problem.
10. Lack of interest. This symptom usually affects people who do not find anything that motivates them. That is
why the search for our dreams should never cease.
11. Disorder and confusion. Feeling confused is a feeling that everyone experiences at some point, and even
having a "messy" head is more common than we think. What happens is that few people share it (Martin, 2021).
Types of stress
 
General Stress
 
The "good" stress, the one that comes from small daily challenges, and that helps us to be better in some way,
must also be dosed and be aware that by seeking continuous challenges, we can fall into excess and lead in
another type of stress .
 
Cumulative Stress 
 
When we talk about cumulative stress are in those situations in which there is trigger that becomes repetitive. In
other words, there is a facts, action or situation that same factor that causes stress repeat itself over and over
again, or multiplies, having the same negative effects on a regular basis 
 
More than an specific type of stress I would say it is a process that starts with the excess of challenges that good
stress produce on the daily basis, this is why is so important stress management so it doesn’t lead into a chronic
stress.
 
Acute traumatic Stress
 
Acute stress disorder is a short-term mental health condition that can occur after a traumatic event, something
unexpected. This is an event where someone is threatened or seriously injured. You can get acute stress disorder if
you witness or experience a traumatic event, such as a car accident where you were directly the victim or someone
else close to you or in your family circle. People who are exposed to many traumatic events can be affected with
acute stress disorder. For example, this can happen to police officers and medical personnel. Here again a good
cognitive therapy will be needed and sometimes medication will be prescribed (Healthwise, n.d.).

Post-Traumatic Stress
 
Post-traumatic stress is a conjunction of symptoms that appears on the person after a traumatic or dismal event,
being so impossible for this person to get over this traumatic event. The individual itself could have a big distortion
of physical real life and patient cannot keep with a normal life.
Strategies to manage stress
Exercise can be, for some people a way to scape to manage the daily stress they deal with. Including a   healthy life
style by starting with a healthy diet, Find time to rest disconnect of the daily problems, make a list of those things
that helps you to relax and add them to your daily basis too, for a change plan an escape for fun to disconnect of
the rutine making something different this can be hiking a visit to a natural park for a walk (Play therapy).
Talking things out helps to realise part of the weight you are carrying inside you, with a friend a family member you
trust or ask for professional help with a psychologist, no, this does not mean you are crazy, it is simply means that
sometimes a professional point of view of your situation will makes you understand and probably close old
chapters of your life.
Seeking for a professional help can help to organise our time by planning ahead or preparing the path for what can
possibly happens in case of a conflictive event this way when the time comes we  will be mentally prepared already
and the impact would not have much repercussion on our mental health. 
Delegate things when you need to, remember we are all humans and as humans being we all make   mistakes by
wanting to approach more things than we can really do or cope with. 
Learn to manage your anger, we often fall on the same mistake by thinking that a person would do what we
thought they would do, not everyone has the same personality and everyone reacts to different circumstances in a
very different way, think twice before you act.
Take charge of your life finding a balance of all the things that you do, don’t look for an easy way to skip stress by
misusing legal and illegal drugs, make a list of things that helps you to relax and include them on your daily basis
and routine.
A good example of Managing stress is Google, it has become famous for its non-traditional approach to the work
environment that promotes work-life balance. Benefits include on-site healthcare services including access to a
physician, chiropractor, physical therapist, and masseuse. Employees can stay in shape by attending exercise
classes, using community bikes, or taking advantage of free entry to fitness canters. Google even throws in cool
courses like guitar lessons, coding degree programs, cooking classes, and more.
Workers can fuel themselves throughout the day at the campus cafes and micro kitchens stocked with nutritious,
color-coded meals and snacks as well as smaller plates for portion control. Employees also receive financial
guidance from financial advisors. All of that comes with flexible work hours along with paid vacation and volunteer
time (Dienstman, 2018).
 
Example of an Stress work sheet
 
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
 

Reactions to Stressor
Stressor Coping Strategies
(emotional/physical/behavioural

Isolated overwhelmed i am mising the Go out for walks, FaceTime with

ex. Covid
social experience friends.

 
Delegation
Delegation – giving others the authority to act on your behalf, accompanied with responsibility and accountability
for results (Student Activities & Leadership Center, 2022).
Delegating is important for the well-being of the team at work or even on our own private personal live so we do
not get all the pressure of doing all the work as well as it could be a well-used tool for time management so things
or tasks can be done quicklier in a reduced time frame. Delegating is the action of redirecting tasks and initiatives
to other team members. You can delegate work to distribute responsibility more evenly or because the task or
initiative is more relevant to another team member's priorities, skills, or interests.

People often avoid delegation for various reasons in within them the most common ones are:

 -                       too hard for others to do it

 -                       no one else has any time to do it

A clear example of delegation is how on the study case we saw in class the Metropolitan council were able to
address the stress levels in within the organization and put a solution in place by setting up a “Stress Steering
Group” involving a few representatives from each department of the organization putting in place a training for
either managers and employees so they could give a solution starting from the higher to lower position in the
company (HSE, n.d.).

Another and personal example of delegating happened to me at work not long time ago. I work on a busy medical
ward twelve hours shift and is very understandable that on a rush of finishing things you can sometimes be
functional and be aware that, delegate and dividing tasks can speed up things and help with the flow at work, but
tiredness was winning the battle in this situation. That day, me starting my duty found my manager, finishing her
duty and with a considerable load of work left to be done for following day, a little bit anxious as the scanner was
not working and the medical record of one of the inpatients needed to be sent for a follow up assessment of one
of our patients. Her not being very familiar with technology made her stress showing up and me, noticing the
situation, asked her if I could help with the issue as devices and technology is my fort. In resume I took over that
task so she could focus in others and her load of work was finished 30 min later.
Delegation play a big part on stress management as be aware of what are our weakness and abilities can reduce
the stress produced by the load of work and goals set we want to achieve.
Goal setting

Goals are specific things we want to achieve. They are generally part of a target, but are more precise and can be
tied to anything. From personal to professional life. Goals help people get what they want and achieve it in a short,
medium or long term.
Some companies sustain motivation by setting up a goal with in your own capability. You cannot transmit an idea
unless you have it. The best way to achieve your goals are to write down a plan of action using the SMART goals to
achieve what you want. This is the case of Google,  they do put down their employers goals on their digital
dashboard to remind them that is there and it has be achieve. (Anon., n.d.)

Definition of SMART:

Specific: you have to stablish the objective and include detail, no room for vagueness, share with others  to make it
accountable.
Measurable: decide how and when are you going to valuate it. How will it feel like when is done, and if needed to
adjust it along the road.
Achievable: Plan realistic goals. Achieve your objectives it all depends on your choices if they are realistic or not.
Relevant: Think of what benefit this objective you chose will bring you. Align them with your long term plans.
Time-bond: Marking on your calendar a realistic date or period of time to achieve your objectives.
Benefits of goal setting 
From the perspective of a company setting goals provide direction, help the employee focus, prioritizing time and
energy and ensuring that they can objectively prove they have advanced the company’s agenda.
Research shows that goals are not only important but also the level of difficulty matters as they would clearly drive
higher levels of performance. Most of the organizations nowadays us the SMART goals but google use something
they call “Objetives and Key Results (OKRs).
-Objectives ("O")
Objectives are the "big picture." They answer the questions "Where do we want to go?" and "What do we want to
do?" Also, objectives are where Google encourages its employees to stretch themselves, be ambitious, and
embrace uncertainty. If you don't get nervous or feel a little uncomfortable after setting a goal, then you haven't
reached high enough.
-Key Results ("KRs")
Key results should answer the question, "How will we gauge ourselves to see If we're getting there?" They should
focus on making the objective achievable and quantifiable, and lead to unbiased grading.
Google suggests three key results per objective. Key results, per Google, "express measurable milestones which, if
achieved, will directly advance the objective." Measurable milestones are defined as evidence of completion. They
should be credible and easily obtainable (Schneider, n.d.).
 
Why goals Fail?
 -                       It's not what you really want. A bad choice making can often  make to fail your goals and
leave it half way through. Having a reason that seems important to you and that excites you is what will
motivate you the most
 -                       It's not the right time for you. Consider, based on your current circumstances and priorities,
whether this is the right time to carry out your goals.
 -                       Your goals are poorly defined. Plan and write down a good SMART plan.
  -                       You focus on the result, not the process. Don't wait to celebrate your achievements when
you reach the end, reward your attitude, your effort, your progress, not the result. What matters is what
you are striving for and enjoying the journey or at least making it as enjoyable as possible.
 -                       You underestimate the time and energy you will need. Normally we underestimate the time
and energy that an activity will require because we do not take into account possible unforeseen events,
interruptions and setbacks. The result is that you don't finish when you had planned, you get
overwhelmed, you feel inefficient and you give up, unmotivated.
 -                       You are too demanding. Commit to yourself and don't look for excuses, but be flexible, if you
have to change your goal, nothing happens.

Personal SMART 
An example of Smart definition and a good long term goal is my case, I want to change carriers on a completely
different path and for that I did stablish my objective, change carriers, decided to evaluate my decision half way
through the curse and planned to revaluate it at the end of itself. In the other hand, I knew it was achievable but I
also knew would be a rough path as working through the night and studding in the morning is hard but not
impossible I am good with time management and is tangible as the benefit I would get by achieving this goal set is
going to improve my personal and professional growth and wellbeing.
Time management
Time management is something simple as a concept, but it is much more complex to put it into practice efficiently.
Time management is how we decide to use the time we have to maximize our productivity in achieving certain
short-term and long-term goals.
One of the main consequences of optimizing time is that the company's productivity grows. In fact, one of the first
aspects to analyse when looking for an increase in productivity is precisely better time management. If workers
have the ability to manage their time, tasks are finished sooner without compromising their quality. The deadlines
for completing tasks and objectives are reduced, since procrastination is over.
Obstacules
 
Excessive perfectionism. It is true the statement: "Better done than perfect." Excellence is a value to aspire to at
work, but it should not be an obsession. When a perfectionist person insists on reviewing, redoing, completing,
improving, etc., a job, he is only wasting his time. The amount of time he spends improving it is usually not
proportional to the improvement obtained, thus taking time away from other activities.
 
Not knowing how to set priorities. By doing tasks that are not so important first, the individual finds that at the
end of his day there are important unfinished tasks that he is forced to finish. In this way, he stretches his working
day and suffers stress because he thinks that he will not meet the deadlines. Prioritizing would have prevented
this.
 
Taking too much time. Although it sounds contradictory, time is better managed without filling it with endless
activities. The reason is that a person who works tirelessly continuously, at some point suffers physical and/or
mental exhaustion and stops being able to perform properly.
 
Not knowing how to say no. Both in the workplace and in the personal sphere, not knowing how to stop other
people (their requests) on time causes you to lose control of time. A person who had his schedule correctly
organized sees it unstructured for doing a favor to a colleague or superior. Or perhaps, on a personal level, he sees
his valuable leisure time reduced for not knowing how to say no to an activity that really does not contribute
anything to him.
 
Not being punctual. Many people do not give this point the importance it deserves. They think that by being late,
they simply have to make up for the schedule by leaving a little later or working faster. The reality is that, after this
action, we find a spiral of disorganization of time: each day he will manage his free time worse because he has had
to leave later, which "allows" him to enter later the next day (in compensation for the damage In his personal life).
 
Lack of concentration. Although this quality depends somewhat on personal characteristics, the truth is that it can
be enhanced or combated and depends, rather, on awareness of the problem and acting accordingly.
 
Not setting the hours correctly. This section only refers to the impossibility, on occasions, of budgeting time
objectively, such as believing that more tasks can be carried out in a given time than is actually possible.
 
 
Postpone decision making. Sometimes, it is thought that making decisions implies meditating very well on all
aspects, getting very well informed, consulting people who can guide you on the subject, etc. This makes decision-
making perceived as a long, tedious and time-consuming process, so the decision is postponed. The reality is that
not making a decision soon can make decision making very ineffective: you will never know everything you would
like to know to make the best decision.
 
Not knowing what time has been spent on. In general, when a person is asked what they have invested their time
in, they do not know what to answer. You usually improvise, go doing what was more or less established and go
improvising.
 
To do several things at a time. There is no image that prints more efficiently than that of a person who does many
things at once, quickly. The reality is that doing several things at the same time mentally and physically exhausts
and makes the person less attentive. This implies that: less attention is paid, more mistakes are made and,
frequently, the work or part of it must be repeated.
 
 
 
Pareto Principal 80/20 Rule
In 1906 an Italian economist came to the conclusion that 80% of the nation wealth was owned by the 20% of the
Italian population, for this reason the 80/20 rule became popular in diverse areas worldwide.
for example, approximately the 20% of the population have control of the 80% of the available money. Another
example is that you only use the 20% of the clothes that you have in your wardrobe in an 80% of the occasions. But
not for this it has to be generalised and can occur in  all the existing situations, an exceptions can occur (Brooks,
2022).
Consequently we can say that, this law can be applied to time management in a number of ways. For example, you
may find that you are only able to complete a small number of tasks in a day, but those tasks have a huge impact
on your overall productivity. Or you may find that a small amount of time spent planning your day or week can
save you a lot of time in the long run.
In resume, applying Pareto's law to time management can help you focus on the most important tasks and get
more done in less time. It can also help you identify areas where you can improve your efficiency.
If you find yourself spending a lot of time on tasks that aren't really important, or if you are not sure how to
prioritize your tasks, Pareto's Law can help you focus on the 20% of tasks that will make the biggest difference
(Villar, 2022).
Parkinson Law
 
A British man named Cyril Parkinson put forward this theory in 1957 after observing his own experience in a British
public office. His reflection helps to understand why tasks are postponed and so much time is wasted:
According to Parkinson’s law “works expands so as to fill the time available” be aware if you give a person all day
to do a job it may take all day (Brooks, 2022).
Which means that the less time you have to perform a task, the greater the effort to complete it. While when you
have more time, less effort is made to carry it out. To this we must add that there is a tendency to procrastinate
tasks and spend time on other tasks that distract from the main objective.
The importance of schedules 
You can use different strategies to better apply this Parkinson’s law to  Time management. When you manage to
keep your work from expanding to fill the allotted time, you can finish your tasks faster and use the remaining time
to relax or focus on other tasks.
1.- Plan your work strategically. Create a detailed plan to estimate how long the tasks will take, using SMART goals
is the best option..
2.- Set your own deadlines. Calculate how much time you need to set realistic deadlines.
3.- test objectives to complete the tasks in specific blocks of time.
4.-try the pomodoro technique. Increase productivity with focused time-out sessions separated by short, frequent
breaks.
5.- use a task management tool. Set due dates, manage priorities, and track tasks from start to finish.
Critical Reflection
Reflection is the exploration/examination of our actions, critical is something that happened that is, in some way
significant. (Brooks, 2022)
In other terms, Critical Reflection means analysing the foundations and reasons for something, an investigation
without any kind of preconception or prejudice. It is literally “don't judge the book by its cover”.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Borton’s Model of
Reflection consist on,
reach touch and teach
was published in 1970
by an American school
teacher called Terry
Borton and in his book
he developed a What,
So What, Now What.
 
 
 
 
 
(Figure 1, Brooks)
 
“Critical reflection on practice is a requirement of the relationship between theory and practice. Otherwise theory
becomes simply "blah, blah, blah, " and practice, pure activism” (Freire, 2000)
The Gibb’s cycle kind of gives importance to the learning happened from the experience taking into account our
emotions, feelings about it that not always have to be the negative one but also the positive part of what it has
been done well too.
Gibb’s reflective Cycle.
Where as a first step is taking the description of what happened, context roles played by you and others how you
feel about it, evaluate if it was good or bad analyse is there is any sense of that situation, conclusion of what else
could you have done and the final step is the action plan if situation was good keep doing it and improving it if is
bad what would you do differently?
 
 
 
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