Discipline is boring.
That’s exactly why it’s useful.
If you only want stimulation and excitement, you won’t get much done.
We all have to do boring and repetitive things to stay alive and to prosper. In the end we do the interesting things better because we spend time on the mundane.
Meals, sleeping, commuting, brushing your teeth – all really useful habitual things.
If you’ve ever lived with, or worked for someone who doesn’t value routines you’ll know what chaos means. So will your poor over-worked brain.
The whole point of routines is that once you’re in a habit, your subconscious brain takes over and it happens without thinking. That’s efficient!
Your thinking brain now has time to focus on important or urgent or creative things without worrying about going hungry, or over tired, or late…
Creating routines takes discipline, which is not a normal or natural thing for any human.
Unless you just choose to practice a few small disciplines. If you’re in the habit of making habits.
Take the well known “leadership lesson” about making your bed. This is actually a good habit – not because there’s something magic about bed making but because it book-ends your day with a little routine.
You make your bed first thing before you do anything else, and you enjoy getting into a made bed last thing at night. It’s a two for one deal. The satisfaction of doing both feeds dopamine that helps cement the habit, a virtuous cycle.
And there’s one small thing less for your conscious brain to think about.
Try doing something in a disciplined way as early in the day as you can. If not the bed try waking up at a set time, or having a routine for breakfast, or a time to be at work, or a schedule for the week.
“…we do the interesting things better because we spend time on the mundane.…”
How is your personal life?
Are you totally hectic and unstructured or too many routines?
Hopefully somewhere in between.
Do you have any small routines that let you think more clearly or be more creative?
Are distractions a pleasant distraction or a way of life?
Is there one thing you can make into a habit so you don’t need to think about it?
Your brain will thank you..
It’ll have more time for the interesting things.
Why get organized?
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“I might be wrong, but at least I’ve thought about it…”