During the time of social distancing, all of our activities take place at home. Therefore, no one will control and urge us like, going to work or school anymore. Discipline of each person becomes extremely necessary and at the same time demanding.
When studying and working from home, your hours will be more flexible. You can wake up and stay up a little later without fear of affecting the next day’s schedule. At the same time, you are also not subjected to direct supervision from your superiors. The current situation may sound comfortable, but it actually requires a lot of self-discipline.
If we do not discipline ourselves, it is easy to change the rhythm of life in a negative direction. For example, some people will stay up too late and make up for it until noon. This lifestyle both slows down work and adversely affects physical health. In some instances, people will start going without food, not eat at the right time or depend on canned food.
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To maintain the quality of life during the epidemic season, we need self-discipline. Let’s take a look at what you can do to build discipline.
Set clear goals
If you do not know the destination, it is very easy to lose your way or go astray. So, if you want to discipline yourself, you must have specific goals. Want to be more focused at work? Want to change your biological clock? Determine what you want.
In the process of choosing a goal, you should keep the following points in mind. Goals need to be larger than your current capacity. This will motivate you to strive and develop yourself. However, it also needs to be realistic and relevant to you. A goal that is too far away will quickly discourage you. You should also time your goals to create time pressure.
Follow the plan
To discipline yourself, you should work with a plan. After defining your goals, you should map out steps for the future. The more detailed your plan is, the clearer your path will be. As a result, you will not fall into a state of hesitation or panic.
On the other hand, you cannot completely change your lifestyle in a short time. So don’t be afraid to break your goal down into phases. If you want to get into the habit of waking up early, you should start by setting your alarm 30 minutes earlier than usual. After your body gets used to it, you change the alarm again until the desired time frame is reached. At the end of each phase, you should compare the results with the original plan. Small achievements will give you confidence and motivation to face big goals. You can also promptly identify bad points to fix.
Believe in your own will
A study by Stanford University (USA) has shown that a person’s will depends on his or her beliefs. If you believe your will is not strong enough, you will never gather enough motivation to change. On the other hand, if you don’t set boundaries for your self-control, you’re unlikely to feel burnout.
In short, belief in your own will determine your strength. To stay motivated towards your goals, you need to remove subconscious obstacles and truly believe in yourself.
Maintain the habit
People develop through habits. Therefore, consistency is the key to discipline. You need to continuously do the activity that you want to make into a habit and without interruption. For example, once you get used to waking up at 6 o’clock, you should wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends.
If something breaks your chain of activity, you should find a way to fix it right away. Don’t use it as an excuse to give up your newly formed habit.
Identify and move away from temptation
Each of us has weaknesses, such as delicious food, a dramatic movie or “hot” news online. They are temptations that will pull us away from our plans. In order to overcome weaknesses, you need to acknowledge their existence first.
Make a list of things that might tempt you and remove them from your surroundings. People often say: “out of sight, out of mind“. Not being able to see something, you will be able to give them up quite easily than you think. This is an important step in the process of improving self-discipline.
If you want to build a healthy diet during the pandemic, don’t order extra junk food home. If you want to improve your focus while working from home, put your phone away or turn off social media notifications. You can also download apps like SelfControl or Forest, to temporarily “lock” your phone during work.
Reward yourself
Practicing discipline is a difficult process. So the efforts you put in are worthy of praise.
Every time you accomplish something, big or small, reward yourself. The reward can be anything, like an ice cream cone, a cake or a movie, as long as you love it. This will give you more excitement and motivation to develop yourself and move forward.
Find a companion
Experts say that you will stick to your plan better when you have a follower. So you can invite a close friend to participate in this discipline practice. You can set goals, make plans and strive together. This companionship not only makes you more serious, but also brings a sense of excitement and fun.
Moreover, if things become difficult, you will not have to go through it alone, but have someone by your side to share, encourage and give strength.
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