"Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it." ~ M. Scott Peck
M. Scott Peck was an american psychiatrist born in New York. Through his adult life he worked in theories in the areas of Discipline, Love, Neurotic and Legitimate suffering, Evil, Love, and Community. The quote written at the beginning of this entry belongs to the work he did in the area of discipline, and while looking at it I find myself trying to decide whether I agree with it or not.
When it comes to the plain definition of discipline, I am considered by my peers and by myself as a disciplined person. I am, however, an amazing procastinator, and generally discipline and procastination are considered opposites to each other.
Is the fact that I procastinate often a sign, that I do not value my time? I know that every time I watch TV or play bubble games on facebook after work, instead of doing my homework for school or studying for the GRE I am not making the best of my time. As an overachiever I am, I am also aware that this procastination will put me in a stress situation when the deadlines (Exams) approach, as I am far behind where I should be, and I will not be ok with leaving any of the 7 subjects unfinished before the exam.
On the other hand there is the factor "time". Time is sacred, it is a scarce ressource and this I have known since my early teens. I consider puntuality extremly important, and a sign of respect to every person and their time. Any 15 minutes spent waiting for somebody at the door of a station is time that we will not get back, it will be gone. While over the last couple of years I have became more relaxed with punctuality (sometimes I am late), I do tell the people I am meeting in advance of my delay, so they can decide whether to wait or to do something else while I arrive.
Time is not only to be taken into account when it comes to puntuality, and it influences others. Time is also of importance in each persons personal life. This is the area where I have not yet mastered the art of respecting it. With the amount of commitments I make to myself and to friends and work (Work over weekends, fly to different countries for friends' weddings, full time student), I should be disciplined to ensure I can enjoy some free time regularly, without considering it procastination. Despite the fact that I make schedules, set my alarm to wake up early, and tell myself on my way from work that I will study in the evenings, I almost never do so, and frequently I spend the last nights before a deadline working without breaks to complete my commitments.
Going back to Peck's quote, I need to admit that I don't value my free time enough, to be disciplined with my commitments and complete them on time, instead of crunching them over a few days. I however disagree partially with the "not value yourself" part. I believe I vale myself, I consider myself capable of reaching (academic and laboral) goals, and I set the line for myself high, ensuring I grow in those two areas permanently. In my personal life I will have to agree with Peck: I do not value my personal life and time enough to be disciplined with it: Weekends, free time and Sleep are overrated in my eyes, and I get frequently sick because my body simply goes into exhaustion.
I often think of ways to defeat the procastination and be more disciplined with the ongoing work, to avoid crunching things at the end. Peck's words show me that this goal is fully in my hands: I only need to learnt to value myself also in my personal life. Then I will give the value to it that it deserves, and ensure that I get the free time for activities I wish to take part in, and which do not contribute to my career or academic life.
M. Scott Peck was an american psychiatrist born in New York. Through his adult life he worked in theories in the areas of Discipline, Love, Neurotic and Legitimate suffering, Evil, Love, and Community. The quote written at the beginning of this entry belongs to the work he did in the area of discipline, and while looking at it I find myself trying to decide whether I agree with it or not.
When it comes to the plain definition of discipline, I am considered by my peers and by myself as a disciplined person. I am, however, an amazing procastinator, and generally discipline and procastination are considered opposites to each other.
Is the fact that I procastinate often a sign, that I do not value my time? I know that every time I watch TV or play bubble games on facebook after work, instead of doing my homework for school or studying for the GRE I am not making the best of my time. As an overachiever I am, I am also aware that this procastination will put me in a stress situation when the deadlines (Exams) approach, as I am far behind where I should be, and I will not be ok with leaving any of the 7 subjects unfinished before the exam.
On the other hand there is the factor "time". Time is sacred, it is a scarce ressource and this I have known since my early teens. I consider puntuality extremly important, and a sign of respect to every person and their time. Any 15 minutes spent waiting for somebody at the door of a station is time that we will not get back, it will be gone. While over the last couple of years I have became more relaxed with punctuality (sometimes I am late), I do tell the people I am meeting in advance of my delay, so they can decide whether to wait or to do something else while I arrive.
Time is not only to be taken into account when it comes to puntuality, and it influences others. Time is also of importance in each persons personal life. This is the area where I have not yet mastered the art of respecting it. With the amount of commitments I make to myself and to friends and work (Work over weekends, fly to different countries for friends' weddings, full time student), I should be disciplined to ensure I can enjoy some free time regularly, without considering it procastination. Despite the fact that I make schedules, set my alarm to wake up early, and tell myself on my way from work that I will study in the evenings, I almost never do so, and frequently I spend the last nights before a deadline working without breaks to complete my commitments.
Going back to Peck's quote, I need to admit that I don't value my free time enough, to be disciplined with my commitments and complete them on time, instead of crunching them over a few days. I however disagree partially with the "not value yourself" part. I believe I vale myself, I consider myself capable of reaching (academic and laboral) goals, and I set the line for myself high, ensuring I grow in those two areas permanently. In my personal life I will have to agree with Peck: I do not value my personal life and time enough to be disciplined with it: Weekends, free time and Sleep are overrated in my eyes, and I get frequently sick because my body simply goes into exhaustion.
I often think of ways to defeat the procastination and be more disciplined with the ongoing work, to avoid crunching things at the end. Peck's words show me that this goal is fully in my hands: I only need to learnt to value myself also in my personal life. Then I will give the value to it that it deserves, and ensure that I get the free time for activities I wish to take part in, and which do not contribute to my career or academic life.
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