Applying Situational Awareness in Life

In this lesson, you will be introduced to examples, for the application of Situational Awareness. We'll provide a couple of exercises for you to put your newly learned insight to the test. 

Once you gain a basic level of the concept of Situational Awareness, you will be able to begin developing a mindset that will prove useful in any crisis (personal, community, or widespread) situation.

Situational awareness is not a permanent, fail-proof skill. There are many factors that can decrease your situational awareness. Some of them are in your control while others aren’t.

Stress and large workloads can limit situational awareness because they leave less brain processing space to sort out current events. Likewise, illnesses and medications can affect the speed at which the brain processes information, also limiting situational awareness.

While projection is important, holding strong preconceptions about a situation could limit your ability to react. Instead of focusing on one or two preconceptions, it’s important to focus on your current surroundings continuously, drawing new preconceptions of events as they continue to change.

We all use situational awareness to some degree; however, our hope is that you increase your level of understanding using the insights you gained in this course.

Think of yourself as the emergency manager of your household. The better your situational awareness the better you will be at assessing situations and making more informed decisions resulting in the right actions.  Rise above the situation, so to speak, to see the bigger picture and respond appropriately.

Practice applications of situational awareness in your everyday life. When  you see or hear something important or significant, ask yourself these questions:

1. How does that impact me, my family, or others for whom I am responsible?
2. What actions if any do I need to take?
3. What else do I need to know about this situation?
4. What am I missing? What have I not considered that I should?

Some practical tips:

1. Start by practicing perception skills in your everyday life. Pay attention to your surroundings and ask yourself if there’s anything you might be missing. Use all your senses, not just your eyes. The more you practice awareness of your surroundings, the more it will become a habit.

2. Limit stress and situation overload as much as possible. These factors affect your ability to process information, so be proactive in removing them from your life. If you’re overloaded with work, ask somebody to help you out. Make sure you’re getting good sleep, so your processing and reaction time is optimal.

In most crisis situations, we don’t get a do-over. Learn to listen to your mind and your body.  Your situational awareness will improve greatly as you becoming more familiar with early signs of stress.  Listen to your inner voices when they tell you to pay attention to what is happening around you, situational awareness, by using your “spider senses”, self-awareness. 

• Make sure you’re getting efficient sleep each night, so your reaction time and mental processing capacity are optimal.
• Remove or limit whatever is causing your stress so that you’ll be able to react better in risky situations. Take breaks to spend time meditating, exercising, or gardening — whatever it is that helps you relax and restore energy.
• The more you practice increasing awareness of your surroundings, the more it will become a habit in your life.