On Impromental, I have talked about trying to improve a lot of aspects in your life from school work to time management. But I think one important topic to discuss is self discipline. You are not always going to be motivated to do hard things. This is a common thing holding us back. I know that it is difficult to try to go multiple days without relapsing on bad habits. Especially at the beginning when the addictions are the strongest it can be really difficult to try to change them. Knowing all this, I will go over how to improve your self discipline.
I think that the first step is to get rid of an addictions and like I mentioned in a previous blog https://impromental.com/are-you-in-control-easy-methods-to-stop-phone-addiction/ you really need to get rid of your phone because it is extremely easy to waste a lot of time using it and it makes you comfortable. In order to have good self-discipline you really need to do a lot of things that you do not want to do. You are also going to have to tackle other addictions. Addictions such as drugs and junk food make your mind feel good and comfortable. This kind of stuff is only beneficial in the short time. Over your life junk food and drugs can ruin your health and this is why we need good ways to prioritize self-discipline and focus on the future.
Addictions I feel are a never ending battle. You can fight them off for a couple of days but it feels like they also come back stronger and you need more and more willpower until they eventually overtake you. I think one inherent issue is the thought being placed on trying to stop. It is kind of like when you try not to laugh and even though it is not really that funny you still find yourself having a hard time stifling your laughs. This is because of how your mind is focusing on its task. In this case because you’re not trying to laugh it becomes even harder to not laugh.
It might sound counterintuitive but I think when you focus so deeply on something you can only think about that one thing. You really need to adapt your daily life to focusing on healthy habits that are not related to your addictions. For instance, I feel that exercise is really helpful because it is fulfilling to do it everyday and also releases serotonin, really distracting your mind from your addictions.
I think that building a routine can ease the difficulty of self-discipline so this is what I will touch on now.
Keep it Simple
It is important to keep a routine in order to facilitate your discipline. If your routine is super strict and has you doing a bunch of stuff, especially at times when your head is not in the right moment, you need a simpler routine. For example, a morning routine where you have to immediately have to do work and then run a 5k is likely to fail. This kind of schedule might work for some people, but in general this is a lot and might not be that effective for most people. Keep it simple by doing one task in the morning. Maybe you wake up, brush your teeth, do 20 pushups, and then you eat breakfast. Those 20 pushups may not seem like a lot, but doing them every day will help you build your discipline.
Consistency
A routine serves no purpose if you cannot do it every day. To make this possible, the routine should be the easiest course of action for you. Like when you get home from school or work, even though you may be tired, working first will be a lot easier than taking a break and then trying to get back into it. I know from personal experience that it is difficult to try to resist the pull of taking a because social media usually is a huge distraction. I think that it is usually easier to do hard things in the mornings because you have a full night of rest backing you up, and this can make it easier to accomplish what you need to during the day. Also, I find at night I am usually sleepy and have a hard time really focusing on what I need to do. To stay consistent, figure out what makes it easiest for you to do what you want to accomplish.
Flexibility
On the flip side, I think that a problem with a lot of routines is that they are either too strict or too loose. A schedule that is too strict usually is unrealistic in the amount of time tasks to complete as well as not giving sufficient time for breaks. This usually leads to you feeling disappointed in yourself, and you are not likely to follow the routine. Using a routine that is too loose, on the other hand, may have you complete too few tasks and so you feel that you can slack off most of the day. This could be because the tasks you have are not that time intensive. A loose schedule may have an opposite effect on self-discipline, as it can lead to procrastination, and you might end up accomplishing nothing. I think a well-balanced routine gives you enough tasks to do while also providing enough time to accomplish those tasks. I would say that to do this you might want to split it up into 1 hr work sessions with 10-min breaks in between. After the first two, maybe take a lunch break and then do the next two, and then have a dinner break or an exercise break.
Conclusion
Self-discipline is sort of like a muscle, the more you practice it, the easier it gets. In the beginning, you have to analyze what is working for you in relation to what you want to accomplish. And then you have to figure out the routine that makes the most sense for you to accomplish it. It is not easy, but the work you put in up front can make a big difference later. Thank you for reading Impromental and stay tuned for the next post.