28 Sep Rituals, Habits, Self-Discipline
Using Rituals, Habits and Self-discipline
There’s a blog I read regularly called Zenhabits.net. Written by Leo Babauta, it covers mindfulness, simplicity and creating good habits. The subject matter is more personal than work based but much is equally applicable to running a business. The author is a great believer in creating habits that will carry you through without having to think too much. It’s a subject that I’ve been wanting to blog about for a while. I think that knowing what helps us get stuff done helps us build a routine that works for us. Habits that are sustainable and less likely to lead to burnout.
It’s something I often work on with my clients. I thought a peek into what works well for me might well be interesting for you. Do drop me a line if you’d like to chat about how we can help you build good habits together. But habits are only part of the story. We need self-discipline to get them started. However, once embedded they have the potential to upgrade into rituals.
Habits
I used to have a habit of writing my newsletter every Monday morning. I did that for over 7 years (eek). It was a large part of my marketing activities, and a successful part too. Even now I get people coming to me that tell me they have been on my newsletter list for five, six or maybe even seven years. It works. I know it works. And yet I still managed to drop that habit after seven years. I guess I got a little bored. I also felt that I should spend that time on the new holy grail of social media. When my business has had a bit of a rejig and I’ve come to the realisation that time spent on my newsletter talking to people that already know my brand is far more valuable than anything I can do on social media. It’s a habit that is worth the effort.
Social Media Ninja
Another habit is my approach to social media. I used to lose hours on social media. I then moved to the “get on and get off” habit where, a certain number of times a day I go on, post, and then like/retweet/favourite/reply to or comment on a certain number of posts. Then I get off. I favourite interesting posts that I want to follow-up and check out the link later, and use my travel time to look at these. This is a habit that really works for me.
Rituals
At first glance rituals don’t seem to be much more than elevated habits but there is something about them that adds an extra quality to your day.
I have adopted a lovely morning routine that gently eases me into my working day if I’m based in the office. I have a huge desktop academic diary and I write out my to-do a list for that day in long hand with a pen I love. There’s something very satisfying about using this particular pen. It flows just right, like a favourite mug that makes tea taste better. I also write down my intention of the day. The final part of this is some breathing. All this is done with a pot of Earl or Lady Grey. Somehow, it just eases me into the day and my work always go better than the days when I have just had to hit the ground running.
Other people’s rituals that I have heard of include running before work to get those endorphins pumping, lighting a candle before they start work, or a gin and tonic at the end of working day when they clear their list!
Self Discipline
It’s not fashionable to talk about self-discipline. After all we are all supposed to be doing what we love and shouldn’t need self-discipline. However, I think this is incredibly underestimated. I’m a big one for planning. I love it, but it’s only that self-discipline that moves it off the page and makes it happen. It’s mainly self-discipline that keeps me powering through my to-do list, that pushes me to make those calls to journalists or write a guest blog when there’s no one breathing down my neck demanding it.
However, if we rely too much on self-discipline, this is pushing energy, the energy that is more likely to contribute to burnout.
And when that self-discipline just doesn’t work? If you think you’re a person that doesn’t have much self-discipline, then I believe it can be built. It’s like a muscle that just needs regular work outs. If you’re usually pretty good but self-discipline just isn’t working in one particular case/on a certain project, then perhaps you should be looking at whether you really want to do it in the first place. Not sure, book a free chat with me to explore.
No Comments