The Pros and Cons of Chunking, and how it Works! 👍

Hey guys 👋 how's it going, and Welcome to my blog!

(FYI: I also have a facebook page Freedom By Discipline if you'd go give it a "Like" and help it grow!)

          Today I'm going to touch on chunking, as its called. Chunking is when a large goal or target is divvied up into a bunch of smaller pieces, or, chunks -- This can convince the brain that a certain activity is more doable since instead of say, going up 10 flights of stairs, a person could instead focus on completing the next flight of stairs, or even just the next 10 steps.  It can be very very useful, but sadly, it seems to be used more often for frivolous activities 😒 (guilty)

          Lets look at an obviously good example of chunking real quick: Say you had to study for a test that's coming up. The test is over the last 6 chapters that your Econ. teacher went over. Unfortunately for you, that comes to about 200 pages. At face value, that seems like a pretty horrendous amount of work, and your brain isn't going to be ecstatic about the prospect of being bored and dopamine-deprived for that long. But with chunking, you could simply resolve to do at least 10 pages worth of studying right now. You'll find that this takes much less motivation, and once you've done those 10 pages, you can simply resolve to do another 10 pages. Its kind of similar to going to the gym. The hardest part about deciding to go to the gym is getting into the car and starting the engine. After that, its easy, and doing an extra rep or even a couple extra sets is easy since you're already "in the zone." This is especially useful for me with reading. I always forget how fun it is until I sit down and start, then my original goal of just 30 minutes turns into 2 hours and I've got to catch up on my other duties!

          Noooow lets look at an example where chunking isn't so great with a personal example from me: Its 8:15 pm, I have 30 minutes until I'm supposed to turn off my computer and start planning out my next day, before reading for an hour and going to sleep. But I just got home and I never got a chance to play my Total War game, so I decide I'll "just play for 30 minutes" and then I'll turn off my computer. But at 8:50, just as I'm totally about to exit out of the game, I get attacked and "need" to fight a battle. That's okay, it'll only take me like 15 minutes. Now its 9:20 and I'm right in the middle of a new thing somehow, so I decide that in another half hour I'll go to bed. Now its 10:00 and the game bugs right at the end of a battle, and I have to freaking re-fight the entire battle. "Ah, its already 10:00, I'll just wrap this up and..." Finally I've shut off my computer and I stare at my watch in astonishment -- its 12:18... My Gosh, what have I done??? True story... smh lol.

          I didn't realize this fully until I came across an excellent video done by Improvement Pill (a YouTube channel with 1.1 million subscribers -- I sub'd when he was only at 1 million so you could say I knew him before he became big...) Check it out here ---> 5 Life Hacks for Motivation!

          In conclusion, chunking is a pretty powerful tool, but as the saying goes, its a Great Servant, but a Poor Master. So if you take extra notice, you'll be able to prevent yourself from going down the rabbit-hole of wasting time doing useless things, while using chunking instead to quit bad habits (one day, week, or month at a time), preventing procrastination, and taking up good habits like reading, working out, or learning a skill.
          Thanks for your time, and remember to "Like" my facebook page Freedom By Discipline

The Benefits of Consistently Going to Bed Early, and a Few Tips on How to Do So

Hey guys 👋 how's it going, and Welcome to my blog!

          (BTW: Thomas Frank has a couple amazing videos on going to bed, while this blog is very in depth, he does cover some awesome stuff in his videos, so I linked a video of his at the bottom of this post! I don't do everything he does, but I've used a couple things from him that have done wonders for me) Oh and checkout my FB Page Freedom By Discipline and leave me a "Like"

          Here are the 3 main benefits of consistently going to bed early:

          Firstly, going to bed early means you aren't so tempted by late-night bad habits. For me, these were playing PC games way too long & then PMO'ing. When you go to bed earlier, a bunch of the triggers that exist for these types of things disappear! With habit breaking, you'll find that a lot of the battle is removing temptations...

He's not going to last long...

          Tip #1: Avoid computer, TV or phone screens for an hour before bed. As you may have already heard, screens emit light that tells your brain its still the middle of the day, so its harder to wind down when you finally go to bed. A lot of computers and smart phones have options in their display settings to turn on "night mode" at a specific time each day. For me, I have my night mode for devices turn on automatically at 8:30, and I usually turn off my computer at 8:45 anyways.

           Secondly, going to bed consistently means that your circadian rhythm is given a chance to shine, and that's a Big deal! The circadian rhythm is basically the biological clock in your head that tells your brain what time of the day it is; so, when to be tired and when to come out of sleep. That means when the alarm clock goes off in the morning, you won't be deep asleep as often!

          Tip #2: Read for an hour before you get into bed. For me, at 8:45 I write down tomorrow's schedule (its lot harder for me to do in the morning, and it helps to have already "agreed" to a schedule beforehand). Then if I've sat down on my reading couch AT 9:00 pm, after a half hour I can read one of my favorite fictional audio books for the last half hour, right now I am reading the first Thrawn book, and its a really good incentive to get my arse on the couch at 9! Tim Ferris, a rather successful entrepreneur and life hacker, says that its best to read something fictional before going to bed, since it will let your brain unwind more than say, a business book that gets "your wheels turning" in a sense. I also like doing an audio book right before bed, because then I can brush my teeth and such whilst reading -- synergy :)

          Third...ly, going to bed early means you can get up early and while this may not seem like a benefit at first glance, its actually an amazing bonus! Imagine waking up at 7 or 8 along with the rest of Nation. Now imagine waking up 1 or two hours before they do! Trust me, this is coming from someone that used to dread waking up at 6 when I had to -- now I wake up at 5 and feel so good! You should give it a try once. Look for the following benefits when you do:
1. A feeling of accomplishment, since you not only got up on time, but also because the rest of your competition/coworkers are still in bed while you are already up and running.
2. A calm state of being, without the regular distraction on the night or the late morning. No one bothering you, even social media is finally quiet (usually). This allows you to actually concentrate on whatever you want. For me that means devotionals, doing 15 to 30 minutes of Jordan Peterson's Self Authoring program or simply writing down my thoughts, and then starting work!
3. When the sun finally comes up, and you've been up for a couple hours, its just a good feeling haha.
---- NOTE: Remember to give yourself at least 7 hours of sleep the first time you do this, I'd recommend 8, otherwise you'll wake up feeling groggy. Now I go to bed at 10 and wake up at 5 because I have the circadian powa with me.

While they Slept, I Conquered a Mountain.

          Tip #3: Improve your environment. If you have noisy neighbors like I do, you may want to invest $20 in a somewhat loud fan, it gives a nice constant noise that drowns out other sporadic ones -- this was a life saver for me! Another way to improve your environment is to make sure your room is as dark as possible (this helps your brain understand that its nighttime). And if you haven't already, you probably want to put your phone on Do Not Disturb, otherwise one of your friends is going to add you to a group message and a night of endless "DING"'s will ensue...

          Tip #4: Commit to trying it for a week. And if that seems too long, try it for 3 days. Anyone can do anything for 3 days. Dr. Jordan B. Peterson says he could range from a window for a month, though I don't have THAT much faith in him, I think only Joe "I hang from windows in my sleep" Rogan could do that. But I digress, just give it a try for a few days, that way your circadian rhythm will have a bloody chance to kick in and help you out. And don't forget this next sentence: It isn't about when you Wake Up, its about when you Go To Sleep! Don't be like I was for 2 months and focus on getting up at a specific time no matter what -- you just wind up going back to sleep in the morning or halfway through the day. Be a good general of you body and give it the supplies of energy it needs!

          I sincerely hope you found this helpful! If you'd like to follow my Facebook page, its also called Freedom By Discipline! Also, here's a video done by one of my favorite YouTubers, Thomas Frank: How to Get to Bed on Time , I would definitely recommend subscribing to his channel! And if you want to help a guy out, consider commenting that you " came here from freedombydiscipline.com! "

Introduction to Freedom By Discipline -- The Blog

Hey guys, how's it going, and Welcome to my blog!

(BTW: Checkout my FB Page Here: Freedom By Discipline and give her a "Like")

          My name is Micah, I'm a 23 year old who lives in the South and I'm seeking to become a better version of myself through the mastering of Self-Discipline, and I am also hoping to help a few or a few hundred other people along the way!

          I created this just as much to help myself as to assist others. You see, for a little more than half a year I have been trying to drastically improve myself, but I eventually realized that I wasn't going to get anywhere until I filled my void of Self-Discipline --  you know, that thing that keeps you going after the motivation wears off. Growing up, I had a bunch of older siblings, Parents and coaches who supplied me with discipline from without, so I never had a necessity to develop discipline from within. Sadly for me, I didn't understand that I lacked this trait until about 4 years after graduating high school, when I finally awoke from my slumber. Or, "my wandering the wilderness." For 4 years I lived in a stagnative-hell of my own creation; my typical weekday was this: Wake up at the last minute->Go to work or school->Come home and eat something unhealthy->Go to my room and play video games and PMO->Finally go to bed at 1- or 2- am (lying in bed foolishly optimistic of my future, without any real plan for getting there)->Wake up tired and barely in time to get to work on time (*almost* never showing up late was one of my few redeeming qualities -- hooray). I hadn't a girlfriend for an embarrassing amount of years, my bank account had only slightly grown, and my future was sad and ambiguous to say the best.

          I guess what made me wake up from my slumber was Dr. Jordan B. Peterson and a few other influences via books; "7 Habits of Highly Effective People," "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," and "10X Rule" for starters. They made me recommit to becoming a better version of me. Now for the first time in my entire life, I actually have a bed time and wake up schedule. Pretty sad it took me this long, but better late than never!

          Like I mentioned, I've spent quite a while reading, listening to, watching and trying all sorts of methods for improving my Self-Discipline (and thereby myself), and I intend to continue doing so as I master, and eventually resharpen the trait. So I figured I would go ahead and set up a blog and facebook page in order to help myself refresh and organize the information I take in so that its not just uselessly bouncing around inside my head, and also to help other people who are also seeking to improve their discipline. I'm looking forward to actively posting content on both this and the FB page. Some of the posts will consist solely of my writing about methods that are working for me, while other posts will include the best videos or articles I come across -- that I find to be especially beneficial/interesting -- with a summary and key points included for people who don't have the time to view or read the link's entire content, or simply as a refresher after people Have read or viewed the content.

          TLDR; I made this blog and a facebook page (by the same name) to help myself and others master Self-Discipline to unlock the powerfully unique traits that each and everyone of us has, so that we can all become better than: we were yesterday, and would have been today. To make us all more Effective, Flourishing human beings, who have the trajectory of realizing our True Potential of accomplishment and Non-Fleeting happiness.

Don't forget to visit my FB Page Here: Freedom By Discipline and to leave a "Like" so you can stay up to date with the content!

          Stay tuned for more posts! And send this web address to a friend or family member that could profit off of improving their discipline!