What’s the one thing you never had to worry about as a child? Disciplining yourself.
Growing up you had someone, usually an adult, parenting and disciplining you for your good and bad behaviours. You as the child never had to worry about it.
That’s not the case once you’re an adult. Once you’re an adult, your behaviour and attitude become a representation of solely yourself. No longer can you blame your mistakes on bad parenting or poor relationships with your parents.
I never understood why my mother was embarrassed when I acted out as a child. I was my own person.
Now that I’m an adult, I realize why it was a problem for her. Society associates a child’s behaviour with the capability of the mother. When I acted out in public, I’d basically told the world my mother was a bad parent.
Now that I’m fully grown, that responsibility lies on me. I only have myself to blame. I am the only one society will blame for my actions, so I’d best make sure my behaviour as an adult is impeccable.
Tell Yourself No
#Adulting boils down to one thing: Parenting oneself.
At the end of the day, there is no one to parent you after you’re grown. Sure, your parents might offer advice–mine certainly do–but they can no longer make you do anything.
You want to down a bag of Jalapeño Cheetos in replace of dinner? Have at it. (Totally didn’t just do that.)
If you have to wake up early for work but you stay up late bingeing Hallmark movies, there will not be a parent there in the morning to give your a disapproving look. Your reflection will have to do that.
Parents set boundaries for their involvement in their kids’ lives, boundaries that change as the children grow. When you get to be an adult, your parents’ boundaries for you will fade. You’ll have to set new ones for yourself.
When waking up refreshed for that job the next morning is important, you as the new parent to yourself is going to have to police what time to shut the TV off. (Personally, I love the screen’s automatic sleep timer. That way, I don’t wake up in the middle of the night and come face-to-face with my poor decision from the previous night.)
Schedule Your Day
So, if we’re going to parent ourselves, what does that mean for our day-to-day?
Nobody’s gonna make me do my “homework” anymore. It’s up to me to make sure it gets done.
It helps to love what you do for work, but the fact is, no one ever feels like doing work. How great would it be if the work got done all on its own and then we could just reap the benefits?
Unfortunately, the world doesn’t work like that.
Unfortunately, also, the world is full of distractions. Parents knew we needed to keep to a schedule, and why we now should build our own schedule.
- Accomplish first your hardest, biggest, and most important tasks.
- Tackle the tasks with upcoming completion deadlines, soonest to farthest.
- Start the projects where others are relying on your part’s completion.
- Continue ongoing projects.
Batching & Blocking
This is my last piece of advice, and it continues to be something I am working on for myself.
There are not enough days in the week to batch all my miscellaneous pieces across the please excuse my nonsense media. I can block a few hours for each, but I don’t get much done in those hours.
That said, I’ve seen it work wonders for others, so I know it works. I just have to find the right sequence for me.
And so do you.
