A few weeks ago, I was at an offsite, getting to know my new colleagues. Casual chat about hobbies somehow segued into one of those “How do you find time?” conversations. I asked my fellow managers about prioritization and planning outside of work life. Some considered this a part of professional deformation, others embraced it and called it a superpower that helps to achieve more in less time.
I am in the second group. For the last seven months, I’ve scheduled not only my working hours but the majority of my life activities too: gym sessions, guitar practice, dedicated study blocks, time for writing, reading, unwinding with a game, a movie or a meditation session. All of it is neatly color‑coded in my calendar, aligned to my annual goals. While it sounds controversial and one of my friends even called it a “formal approach to spare time” (…which it kind of is), I’ve never been happier or lived a more fulfilling life.
When I told all this to one of my new coworkers, she seriously nodded and replied: “Discipline is freedom.” And that phrase is why I wrote this article.
Discipline is freedom. Yeah, I know – it sounds like one of those motivational poster quotes next to a sunset. But here’s the thing: like most clichés, it only feels silly until it starts to feel true.
Phrases like “It does not matter how many days in your life, it only matters how much life is in your days” make you roll your eyes until you have to experience that in your life and then catch a thought: “This is it, this is what all those cringe quotes are about!”
The same happened to my relationship with discipline. When I first heard the phrase, my brain nearly short‑circuited. Freedom? From discipline? It sounded counterintuitive, like claiming “silence is thunder” or “chaos is structure” (while silence can seem loud, that is another story).
Over time, I realized what this means: by choosing to control my time, I actually give myself the power to do everything I care about.
Think about it: if you don’t guard your hours, your hours vanish. A quick scroll here, some reels there, and suddenly the day is gone, leaving you wondering why your best intentions never make it off the to‑do list. Discipline, on the other hand, is the art of saying “yes” to what matters and “no” to the rest. I shifted my mindset to treat it not as something bad (as this word gets a bad aura in school), but as a filter. That moment felt like discovering a secret cheat code. You might giggle at that, but once you live it, once you guard your hours like a fortress, you’ll never laugh at it again.
The discrepancy of “Why do I need discipline to do things that are good for me?” usually comes from the fact that our goals:
a) Require significant effort
b) Can’t be reached fast
Even simpler goals like “I want to read 12 books this year” require a certain level of planning and commitment, not to mention more complex goals like learning a new language or improving one’s financial situation.
So here’s where we start: I want to show you why carving order into your calendar isn’t a boring project manager shit – it’s the launchpad for the richest, most intentional life you can build. And it all begins with a simple shift in perspective: recognizing that real freedom isn’t the absence of rules, but the power to choose which rules shape your world and what matters to you the most right here, right now (and a little bit in the future as you plan).
But to cover it properly, let’s take a small step back and ask a question: what even is discipline, and why does it work?
“Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.”
– Abraham Lincoln (or so they say)
At its core, discipline is nothing more than a skill of self‑regulation – the ability to align your impulses with your long‑term goals rather than your momentary cravings. But here’s the twist: it isn’t about punishment, rigidity, or turning life into a round‑the‑clock chore. It’s about designing your environment and mind so that the “hard” choice becomes the natural one.
Self‑control is a proven predictor of later success: children who delayed gratification in Walter Mischel’s famous “Marshmallow Test” exhibited higher academic achievement, better social skills, and healthier lifestyles decades later. Structured self‑regulation expands our choices by automating essential tasks and preserving mental bandwidth for creativity and decision‑making.
“Ok, sounds cool”, – you think. “What should I do to try it?”
It’s not an easy thing to incorporate into your life and most likely can’t be done at a finger’s snap. It will require a lot of work and willpower, which is a limited resource that is drained by each effort. Good news is that willpower can be renewed through rest, adequate sleep and small self‑control exercises – very much like a muscle!
Moreover, there are some fancy scientific “cheats”, like habit‑stacking – the practice of piggybacking a new habit onto an established one – that magnifies small wins into lasting change, and helps you shape your life more easily. It’s only a matter of choosing to do so (easier said than done!)
To make the choice easier, consider this: you will get your dopamine dose from either hitting the gym or eating a donut, and you will pay for both. But! For gym, you pay upfront (no pain – no gain) and enjoy the result that lasts for a longer time, while for the donut, you pay later (I get pimples and belly fat, your case might be different) and deal with the “aftermath” for a longer time. You make a choice between short‑term pleasure vs. long‑term fulfillment.
Our brain is wired to seek instant gratification. It rewards quick wins with dopamine spikes. Discipline hacks that system, as all those checkboxes and smaller tasks that fill your day and back up your long-term goal serve as momentary satisfaction check-points that keep the dopamine flowing and reinforce the habit.
Now, enough talk. What can we actually do to start building this into our lives, without losing our minds in the process? Here I share a few hacks that were tested by yours truly and proved to be working to increase chances for good habits to stick:
🎯 Define the “Why”
Write down exactly why this block exists. No vague “it’s good for me.” Get clear: “I’m practicing guitar to finish that damn original track I keep putting off.”
🐢 Start Micro
If 60 minutes feels impossible, do 5. You’ll usually do 20 anyway. That’s how brains work.
✅ Progress Over Perfection
Missed a day? Learn. Tweak. Move on. Guilt is not a productivity tool.
🔒 Precommitment
Make the right decision before your future self has a chance to screw it up. Pack your gym bag the night before, set a focus timer on your phone in advance, etc.
🧹 Environment Engineering
Design your surroundings so the right action becomes the obvious one. Declutter your workspace, mute less important notifications, put the donut somewhere far, far away.
📅 Weekly Review
Treat your Sunday review like a meeting with your future self. What worked and what did not? Do your current routines align with your goals? Reflect and adjust.
Discipline isn’t punishment. It’s a permission to build the life you actually want, instead of reacting to the one that’s handed to you.
So go ahead. Plan your “formal spare time.”
The joke will fade, but the impact won’t.
Retrieving Thoughts 