Self Discipline

Self discipline is one of those things that we all sort of know about but can't really define.  What I mean when I talk and think about self discipline is really quite simple. It is simply the ability to actually do that which I set out to do.  And on the whole I am not very good at it.

But I think I am getting better.


The things I have learnt over many years of trying to get myself to actually do things I need to do rather than what I just want to do are not very numerous.

The first thing is that it is a lot easier to keep focused on what needs to be done when I am fresh and  my energy levels are high.  So it is best to schedule things that need to be done early in the morning.

The second thing is that I am really really easy to distract.  I am definitely of the 'oh look a squirrel' personality type.  This has two really bad consequences.  The first is that I find it hard to get started.  But the worst is I have a tendency to leave jobs half finished and start on something new.  I have any number of half written blog posts and other important bits of writing.

The ability to follow something through until it is finished and completely finished is one that has eluded me for years. Some successful strategies for coping with this are to go somewhere to get a a particular job done and not to leave it until the job is finished.  I find the public library very good for this. It has the advantage that I fool myself into thinking that other people in the library are watching me and quietly judging me. It also has the rather splendid property that it closes at a specific time of day imposing a real time constraint on getting stuff done.

The third thing that stops me exercising the kind of self discipline that I would really like is that I find it impossible to say no to people who want to distract me. This is a tough one to crack because you have to deal not only with your willpower but with social norms as well. So getting rid of time wasters is not something that comes at all easily.  This is especially difficult because I am an inveterate gossip and love nothing more than a good chat.

The best countermeasures I have come up with are to hold something related to work in my hand, and to try and get the subject onto how behind I am with my work.

But the plain fact is it is a continual battle.

 photo credit: Walton Hall campus - Library via photopin (license)