Self-discipline requires one essentially be able to keep oneself in check, in terms of performing said tasks/goals one hopes to carry out throughout the course of a day, week, or year. One could make the argument that ‘Project Morality’ in and of itself is a form of self-discipline, training myself to perform a certain moral trait each week. In tackling this virtue this week, I used a variety of mechanisms at my disposal.
1) Schedule a small task for a given part of the day:
This week I sought out to wait before doing a variety of tasks at a certain time period during the day. This includes the usage of social media and the process of deliberate delaying where I would actually wait till a set time in my schedule to perform a certain task.
Obviously this was easy due to my work schedule every day on Monday-Friday. Going home I sought to read at least an hour of Game of Thrones every day in an effort to get one step closer to finalizing the series. Swagbucks, work, game of thrones, as well a variety of other functions were performed. In addition, I legitimately turned my phone off when reading Game of Thrones for 2+ hours in an attempt to maintain self-discipline in sticking with a set task. Too often we find ourselves distracted by our cell phone or other tasks that disconnect us from having a focus. Our society is now revolved around multitasking but I tried to refrain from doing too many things at once this week to maintain a standardized form of self-discipline.
2) Harness the power of a routine.s
Work. I was able to maintain a responsible work schedule. I also didn’t lose any kids sticking to a set schedule at the Aquarium of the Pacific this week. Looking after students of other kids one has to maintain the self-discipline to always be trained to tackle any potential situation – whether it be injury or somebody crying. I also mostly woke up around the same time every day this week (except Friday, which just so happened to be field trip day). Even on the weekends the ability for me to sleep in has largely diminished, as I have now trained myself to a certain routine (which equates to sleeping around the same time every single night). I plan to maintain this sleep cycle for the entirety of the summer.
3) Schedule your work day and studies. Keep things logged.
Merging my pre-planned schedule and tasks in a daily log helped me keep things organized for the week. When the school year starts I hope to use my self discipline skills to balance my work schedule, my student teaching schedule, my class schedule, and my social calendar.
There is a verse in the Bible that parallels the need to maintain self discipline. It goes “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” Ecclesiastes 3:1
The End Result: A Success! I give myself an A for the week.
Next Week: Friendship
