Self-Discipline is Vital

by Joanie
(Kewanna, IN USA)

Self-discipline is an extremely important ingredient when working from home. I believe there are several matters that I needed to face in this area: sleep, exercise, food intake, and housework. Those of us who work at home have some freedom others don’t have, but yet I think it takes much more discipline.

Whether a person works at home or away from home, these issues need to be dealt with either way. However, when you spend most of your time at your home, no one is necessarily directing you in how you use your time. At each moment we need to make choices and decisions in how we will use our time.

Sleep is something not to be ignored. I find it extremely difficult to put forth much effort at all during the day if I don’t sleep well at night. It’s tempting to stay up until all hours because everyone else is sleeping and there are no interruptions. However, I’m dragging the next day. A good seven to eight hours does wonders for my attitude and production.

I found that exercise is so important. I now walk 20-25 minutes briskly each day and ride my Schwinn exercise bike every other day for 30 minutes. This may seem extreme, but I found that I immediately feel better and less fatigued when I exercise. Even if you only take a brisk 15-minute walk each day, you’ll find yourself refreshed and your mind clear. I’ve got the time, so I learned I should just do it, whether I want to or not.

Eating is another discipline that we may be tired of hearing about, but after many years of trying to diet, I found I do best simply doing what my mother taught: eat breakfast, lunch, and supper. Amazing, but it’s actually very satisfying. Eating at strange times of the day, and then getting hungry at even stranger times, can really put you out of whack and limit your productivity.

No matter where you work, the basic home chores must be done unless you’re fortunate enough to have a maid. Most of us have to do it ourselves: laundry, cleaning, cooking, paying bills, grocery shopping. It helps me to multi-task by starting a load of wash first thing in the morning or straighten up a little before I get to the computer. I do dishes while cooking, since I’m in the kitchen anyway. I try to do at least one “cleaning” job, no matter how small, every day to keep up. It breaks up the day, too, when I get away from the work and get physically active for a half hour.