How to Develop Self-Discipline at Work
by Bradley Nice, Content Manager at ClickHelp — all-in-one help authoring tool
Many people complain that they have to spend too much time working, which leaves no energy for their personal plans. That is a problem familiar to all of us. Of course, if you have a particular schedule at work, you can hardly help that. But…Sometimes, it is our own fault that we have to stay longer at work. We are not productive enough, it takes us too much time to cope with some tasks. But we could have spent that time with our friends or family. We need to check where we lose time at work and control ourselves to prevent it.
What do you usually do during your working day? Are you sure that you are productive enough? Are there things that make you postpone something important? I guess everyone loses time checking social networks more often than required, browsing the websites of little significance that are not related to their work, etc. Meanwhile, the number of tasks that you have to complete is increasing, and late in the evening, you will find yourself at work still trying to cope with all that. What you need is self-discipline =)
Planning
Planning is one of the components of self-discipline. You need to do it carefully and repeatedly every day, every week, every month. What are the most important tasks? What are the most complicated tasks? What can be postponed? Start your day with the most difficult and important things. Leave the rest for the second part of your day. Include some time in your plan for something urgent. As a rule, things like that may unexpectedly ruin your day. Include several breaks in your workflow. Being efficient does not mean working without rest.
No Distractors
Another vital thing is to remove all the distractors. Among them are social networks, websites, mobile phones, and other things that attract our attention and swallow up a lot of time. There are a lot of apps today to help you concentrate on what you do: apps that block unnecessary websites or calls or simply do not let you check your phone too often. You can do all of the above-mentioned things during your break time.
Motivation
Motivation is a key component of self-discipline. You`ve got to understand why you do it. The simplest thing is like that: the quicker I am through with my task — the more time I will spend with my friend. Anything may work. It is up to you what is relevant in your case. It is the same when you need to start working, but you cannot make yourself do it. Let`s say you do not like your task, or it is too vague and complicated. You do anything, except for your work. The most crucial thing is staring at the monitor doing nothing. Motivation will save you as well in this case. Your moto is: the sooner I start working — the sooner I finish. No losing time. We start right away.
Simple Steps
Sometimes, frustration is caused by the feeling of helplessness when you have a large amount of work, and you have no idea what to start with. People often tend to postpone tasks like that. What you can do is to divide it into several simple steps. You will see they are quite easy-to-follow. Everything will seem to be workable. That is a curious trick with our brain =)
Reward
Rewards are necessary to feel satisfied with the process of self-improvement. It can be anything that works for you. A cup of coffee after a couple of hours of brainstorming or a short nap during the day to feel fresh and full of ideas. You can reward yourself for any successful step towards your self-discipline: you`ve managed to cope with all the tasks on your daily plan, or you`ve finished a huge project. Rewards may ease your unwillingness to make yourself do what, actually, you do not want to do.
Be Strong
You`ve got to be strong when something goes wrong, and you fail to follow your plan. For some reason, one may feel weak and frustrated to go on being productive. That does not mean that you have given up. You may have lost today, but tomorrow, things may be quite different. Just take it as it is. But try to avoid days like that in the future. Step by step, self-discipline will become your good habit.
Being self-disciplined is something that you can acquire. It is hard work, but it is worth that. Please, share what helps you be organized and where you find inspiration to work on yourself.
Have a nice day!
Bradley Nice, Content Manager at ClickHelp.com — best online documentation tool for SaaS vendors
