• Not everyone will follow the same sleep/wakefulness cycles; it’s up to you to understand your own rhythms and work with them. Identify your peak energy periods and schedule your most important or demanding tasks for this time. You need less self-discipline if you’re working with your natural motivational flow.
• A great way to break out of inaction or overcome strong derailing emotions is to count down from ten and then just force yourself to act. Anxiety can be tackled by becoming aware of the present moment on all five senses. Anger can be managed by hitting the pause button, breathing deeply, and having a time out.
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Peter Hollins is a bestselling author, human psychology researcher, and a dedicated student of the human condition.
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Each of us has our own innate body rhythms and our energy, productivity and creativity rise and fall in waves over a twenty-four-hour period. We need to carefully identify when our unique periods of peak productivity and energy fall. This way, we can schedule our time accordingly, making the most of our time and energy. Think of it this way: if you practice a little self-discipline at first and identify your golden work periods, then in essence you need less self-discipline overall because you’ll be moving with your natural flows rather than against them.
How to Use This in Your Life Immediately
Again: self-knowledge is power here. To begin, take a week or two where you simply stay in observation mode and watch to see what your normal rhythms are like. Make no assumptions. Keep a journal where you note down, in hourly increments, your energy levels on a scale of one to ten. You could choose a single metric, i.e., how much work you tend to get done, or break it down into several measures, for example, energy, creativity, optimism, etc. The more data you gather the better, so take your time and look for patterns. Don’t presume that you’ll be more energetic in the morning, and try not to interfere with your natural cycles by skimping on sleep or using stimulants or depressants (caffeine and alcohol are the biggest culprits, respectively).
Once you’ve gathered some information about how your energy and productivity flows, take a moment to compile it and represent it visually. Some people literally draw a graph showing shifting energy patterns over twenty-four hours. Now, on the one hand you have your natural flow of energy, and on the other, you can have your daily schedule and routine. Your goal is to match and align these two as far as possible without causing too much disruption to your existing routine.
Doing this work takes discipline, but if done correctly, you are actually giving yourself less work to do; you won’t be “swimming upstream” energy-wise and will get more done without having to force or push through energy slumps. Sometimes, self-discipline is less about white-knuckling your way through things day after day, and instead working smart to pre-empt, plan, and strategize once so that every day flows more smoothly without as much conscious effort.
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Bear in mind that you will likely discover different peaks throughout your day—for example you may feel mentally most alive in the morning, physically strongest in the early afternoon and most able to solve problems and dream of creative solutions in the early evening. Plan accordingly.
The Power of a Countdown
Isn’t it a wonderful thing, to know that you always, always have the power to change your focus and your mood? No matter what has come before, you always possess the ability to stop, become aware and decide how you want to express your own personal power. Some people find it easy to cultivate a great attitude throughout the day and stay mindful and positive pretty easily. However, things go haywire when some especially strong emotion comes along, and they feel unable to “snap” out of it.
Are you someone who can get swallowed up by an anxiety spiral that comes out of nowhere? Do you have a bad temper and find yourself losing your cool so quickly that you lash out before you even know what’s happening? Do you find yourself getting swept away quickly by negative self-talk that completely ruins your mood in the space of a few minutes? You might like to try a few techniques for rapidly gaining control of yourself again, in the moment. Sometimes, we just need a little push, a quick distraction, or a psychological jolt to break us out of negative old patterns and get our forward momentum going again.
How to Use This in Your Life Immediately
Here are some ways to snap yourself back onto the path and quickly pull yourself out of negative or distracting loops. Now, these techniques themselves won’t address any underlying problems, but they will allow you to quickly come to a calmer, more rationally frame of mind where deeper analysis and action is possible.
One method is to use a countdown. Let’s say you’re feeling really lazy and unmotivated. Simply count down from ten, and then act. Count down, then get up off the sofa and start, or pick up your pen or book. Sounds simple, but this is a powerful psychological trick that cuts through excuses and stories and gets you in the right frame of mind.
On the other hand, if anxiety is your problem, recognize that you’re not a slave to it and can take action to reduce worried feelings. One way is the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 technique: take a few deep breaths, then notice your environment. Find five things you can see, four things you can hear, three things you can touch, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. This grounding technique stills your mind and brings your attention not where it matters: the present. Then, carry on (perhaps with a countdown!). Another way to manage anxiety is to literally burn it off. Do vigorous exercise, which will flood your body with endorphins and calm you, as well as put you in an active, proactive frame of mind.
If anger is something that threatens to derail your disciplined productivity, then a countdown can help as well—stop, take a deep breath, and count down from ten before you do or say anything else. You might like to step outside for a moment, be in nature, stretch your muscles, distract yourself, listen to some music or generally put yourself in a brief time out until your anger subsides. When you’re feeling more level-headed, don’t just go back into things—ask if there is an appropriate action that your anger is pointing toward.
The key to snapping out of strong emotions or tempting loops is to get back into the present. Do this by pausing, becoming aware, and getting in touch with your five senses. All you need to do is create a single moment of clarity. Then, in that moment, choose the right thing. Count down to ten. Carry on.
