As we have discussed in the past, effective time management is vital to maximizing your productivity, but for those among us who lack such qualities it can be daunting to consider that we may never be able to achieve the goal of becoming self-disciplined – but this is absolutely not the case.
Research indicates that those who are in control of their lives in terms of discipline are actually happier and more content – understandably so – and are also better decision makers and calmer individuals. But how exactly can one improve on their own self-discipline? Because self-discipline is something that we learn and not something we are born with, it’s all about getting rid of bad habits and replacing them with good ones.
Diet
This one is actually quite surprising, which is why it makes it to number one on our list. Low blood sugar levels are known to weaken one’s resolve, while being hungry – as we all should already be well aware – makes concentration far more difficult and it certainly does not improve overall mood. As such, eating healthy snacks at regular intervals throughout the day (perhaps every 2 hours or so) keeps your body and mind fuelled and able to cope with and successfully complete any task at hand. Aside from the distraction of feeling hungry at work, this also spills over into the rest of your life and can have an equally negative impact on your progress.
Leave Your Comfort Zone
Again, improving self-discipline is all about ridding yourself of undesirable habits – despite how uneasy such a prospect may make us feel – and those of us who prefer to wait until something feels comfortable before embarking on a mission to overcome it are often fighting a losing battle in terms of self-improvement. Psychologically, it will virtually always feel ‘wrong’ or ‘uncomfortable’ to make such changes, but if it was easy we wouldn’t have to discuss it here. If you understand how your brain works under these types of circumstances, you will be able to overcome any fears and/or anxieties about the new way of doing things and will be more able to achieve your goals. Fight the urge to permit learned behaviors to remain habitual, and push yourself to break out of auto-pilot mode and make the changes you need to move up to the next rung of the ladder.
Delete Distractions
In this day and age, whether it be our cellphones, the inbox full of unanswered emails, or the stack of papers on our desk, we need to get rid of such things that can divert our attentions away from the task at hand. Put your phone on silent. Answer those emails. Come in 30 minutes earlier or stay 30 minutes later so that the stack of papers gets smaller (or it will only get larger). There are even apps today that you can use to block social media notifications (if you really do have that much trouble ignoring your phone), and the same principle applies here as it would elsewhere; if you are trying to eat more health foods, then you should ignore the fastfood menu at lunch, for example. By removing these distractions, and then allowing the removal process to become part of your daily routine, you are giving yourself a leg-up with regards to being able to stick to what it is that you are supposed to be doing in the first place.
Have a Break
This is another area we’ve discussed briefly in the past, but when you allow yourself a short break from the daily grind to enjoy a cup of fancy coffee or a chocolaty treat (provided eating healthier foods is not a current goal outside of your office life), then you are far more likely to succeed at your goal than you would by imposing stricter measures on your own performance; in fact, such strict measures are actually more likely to lead you towards failure than they are towards success. Nobody said this transition was going to be a walk in the park, so taking the time to reward yourself – something that the human brain we all have actually appreciates – will afford you that much more opportunity to achieve your self-improvement goals.
For more information on how you can increase your performance and be more productive in your professional life – as well as your home life – please contact one of our certified geniuses on genius@justpayroll.ph.
