A Busy Person's Guide for Personal Discipline

French novelist Gustave Flaubert once said, "Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work."

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Known for his obsessive revisions and solitary habits, Flaubert structured his life to minimise distraction. He believed that discipline off the page made freedom on the page possible.

At one level, being regular and orderly in one's life seems like a no-brainer. However, it is easier said than done. Modern life is distracting, and if you are juggling multiple responsibilities, having perfect order is a luxury many of us can't afford.

The challenge, then, is not to imitate Flaubert's monastic routines but to adapt his principle to messier lives. Order today is provisional and fragile: a meeting runs long, a child gets sick, an inbox fills faster than it can be cleared. In this context, discipline means returning to important priorities even when conditions are imperfect, and resisting the temptation to wait for the right time. Personal discipline, works through repeated acts of recommitment. Therefore, it needs to be directed toward ourselves, not the calendar.