Self Discipline

Ithior

Well-known member
I really need to get self-discipline. Does anyone have some advice?

A little background:
I've never been a very self-disciplined guy. I procrastinate a lot. In the last few years it has gotten worse though. Since I don't have uni any more and I don't have a job either, I don't have a need to get up early in the morning. Right now I'm waking up at 10.30, but I don't get out of bed until 11.30. It has been worse (I used to wake up at 12.00 or later), but it has also been better (for a month I was waking up before 9). This is troublesome because I can't do the things I planned to do in the morning.
This also affects other little aspects. For example, when I get out of the shower I stay a good 5 to 10 minutes just sitting on the edge of the bathtub with a towel on, naturally drying since I'm too lazy to dry myself.

I feel like I'm too dependant on my moods and whims. I tried changing habits one by one, little by little, but it didn't work. I want to be able to tell myself to do something and then do it.
 
I really need to get self-discipline. Does anyone have some advice?

A little background:
I've never been a very self-disciplined guy. I procrastinate a lot. In the last few years it has gotten worse though. Since I don't have uni any more and I don't have a job either, I don't have a need to get up early in the morning. Right now I'm waking up at 10.30, but I don't get out of bed until 11.30. It has been worse (I used to wake up at 12.00 or later), but it has also been better (for a month I was waking up before 9). This is troublesome because I can't do the things I planned to do in the morning.
This also affects other little aspects. For example, when I get out of the shower I stay a good 5 to 10 minutes just sitting on the edge of the bathtub with a towel on, naturally drying since I'm too lazy to dry myself.

I feel like I'm too dependant on my moods and whims. I tried changing habits one by one, little by little, but it didn't work. I want to be able to tell myself to do something and then do it.

I know how you feel. I used to drop out of college and I didn't have a job. I was home all day. Now I work though, but still I never am on time (they are very flexible ''hippies'') but still i dont sleep on time, i dont clean my house, it looks like a zoo etc
 

gustavofring

Well-known member
I'd recommend trying to reach out to people. Try getting a support group, or someone who can help motivate you. Too much focus is put on SELF-discipline. But in reality, almost no one is so disciplined that they can accomplish things completely on their own devices.
Of course, ultimately you have to try and do things yourself, but it's incredibly helpful to have people inspire/help/motivate you. Someplace to show up at. Someone who can hold you accountable. It makes the commitment more real and less locked up inside your head.
 

Argentum

Well-known member
Play to your moods if you can. Getting up at 10:30 isn't early enough for me on days when I'm home and it has to be more like 6-8 in order to get in a good day's work, and it helps to avoid anything distracting or irritating for the first few hours until I've built up momentum. Use rituals like a cup of coffee or tea to kick off the day.

Sometimes you might have to forcibly reset your sleep schedule and roll with a few hours of sleep for a day if that's what it takes to be in bed between 11-1.
 

Ithior

Well-known member
That says something about having intrinsic motivation. That's my main issue, I have no such thing. I don't know what I want to do with my life. Even as a kid I never had a dream of what I wanted to be when I grew up. There's not a destination I want to reach, and so I can't start walking down a path that leads me there.

Some people say that that is wonderful, that you can choose whatever path you want, that your life is like a blank canvas where you can paint whatever you want. But that implies choosing something, and you either make a random choice or you choose what you want. But if you're choosing what you want, then you're in the group of people who knows what they want, not in the blank canvas group.

I already did that a few years ago, didn't really work. I still check the blog every now and then.
 
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