Balancing Discipline and Boundaries in Creative Work

I’ve been reflecting lately on my creative work – how it requires a gentle balance of both discipline and boundaries in order to stay in a joyful (read: not burnt-out) state. Realizing that I’m probably not the only one to struggle with this equilibrium, I thought there might be some use in sharing my thoughts here. To satisfy the requirement for shared understanding, I’ll start with an overview of what all of these things mean to me so we can develop a common vocabulary. 

What does discipline mean to me? 

Discipline is a practice that brings together structure and tenacity to work towards a desired end goal. The term implies self-control and order, two strict and rule-abiding concepts. Interestingly, dictionary definitions of discipline take a disciplinary angle, speaking of using punishment to “correct” undesired behaviors.

I love a dictionary definition, but as much as this is the accepted way of viewing discipline, this punitive term is very much at odds with my gentler personal philosophy. It makes sense: Ample negative experience with the “punishment” end of the discipline stick (often self-imposed) causes me to flinch in the face of harsh corrections. 

So I choose to redefine the term: For me, discipline involves defining the outcome I want and working backwards. It’s about breaking the larger goal down into smaller bits and constructing a map of mini-goals required to get to the big prize. Discipline for me is creating and maintaining a daily “to-do” scheduler. 

Discipline requires consistency and routine. Armed with a list of achievables, I dedicate set blocks of time to work through tasks one by one. Rather than using punishment as a motivator*, I favour positive reinforcement. Once a target is reached, I reward myself with something small, compounding on the achievement-oriented dopamine hit and reinforcing the benefits of this disciplined approach.

*NOTE: This is really my “ideal world” practice – In reality, I’ve been conditioned to take a punitive approach to discipline, so internally berating myself is something that often slips in. I am working to move away from this, but it’s the nature of deeply ingrained patterns to keep coming up even after you realize, hey, maybe this isn’t for me.

What do boundaries mean to me?

Shifting to the other side of the equation, we have boundaries. Boundaries involve knowing and communicating your unique version of what is and is not acceptable (thanks to Terri Cole for this definition).

As I’ve discussed previously (see my “Approaching Discomfort” tarot essay), boundaries do not come naturally to me and require lots of active energy to uphold. This story is common for many people-pleasers and recovering codependents. We tend to overstep our own bounds, preferring to center our attention on the needs of others instead of looking inwards at what we actually want.

This dysfunctional relationship to my needs is especially true for me in my career life: Combine a preexisting lack of boundaries with a strong achievement orientation and you have a recipe for long work hours, placing undue emphasis on achieving over everything. In other words, it’s easy for me to slip into “max productivity mode” even when I know that doing so tends to leave my physical, mental, and spiritual needs abandoned on the side of the road. As you can imagine (or perhaps have experienced first-hand), lots of work plus a laser focus on output (Attack of the Corporate Overlords callback!) doesn’t leave much time for us to sit still, let alone reflect on one’s personal definition of boundaries.

Needless to say, identifying and communicating my boundaries is a work in progress for me. Narrowing in on achievement-related boundaries, this work involves:

1. Setting and sticking to a defined work schedule, and “leaving work at work” 
2. Getting up from my desk regularly for stretch and nutrition breaks
3. Having defined “no-tech” times
4. Reworking my mental map around “achievement” to involve not just work, but also other things that bring me joy. This encourages me to make time for these things, even when I’m in the thick of an achievement-induced trance

I’m actively working to rewire my brain so that I’m heavier-handed on the boundaries and lighter-handed on the discipline, aiming for the elusive sweet spot where I can “do” things without becoming a human doing (rather than a human being).

How do I work creatively?

Here’s where creativity enters the conversation. A lot of us, myself included, start off with this romantic notion that creative work should come to us naturally, draped in a magical ever-present cloak of inspiration. While creative output can come to us in inspired bursts, relying on inspiration alone is a recipe for writer’s block (or painter’s block, or designer’s block, or…. you get the picture).

The reason is this: Inspiration is fleeting and wonderful specifically because of its rarity. Inspiration is a wonderful catalyst for creativity. It can take us on a joyride into flow state, allowing us to create and create for long stretches of time without feeling depleted. Creating art when inspiration strikes is wonderful, and can work well for many people, especially those doing it more casually.

But when you’re trying to make a living off of creative work, it requires more than just inspiration, simply because inspiration can’t be guaranteed. The brunt of my creative work involves writing (though I also dabble casually in watercolor, sketching, and singing when the inspiration strikes). I have made a commitment to myself to write every single day – but guess what? I’m not inspired every day.

Because I can’t rely solely on inspiration, I look to other tools in my repertoire to help me with my creating. Discipline comes in as a natural choice, an old, well-acquainted friend good for getting what I want out of an endeavor. Those days I’m not feeling inspired, I still commit to sitting down and writing for at least ten minutes – even if I’m just penning a stream of consciousness in a journal that’ll never see the light of day.

Circling back to the bit on boundaries above, you may have realized the challenge here: Discipline is all well and good, but what about those times that it pushes me out of creative joy and into grueling workhorse mode?

How to balance discipline and boundaries in creative work

This brings me to the heart of it all: Creativity, discipline, and boundaries – How do they go together? I want to produce creative work and have committed to doing that without engaging in harmful old boundary-crossing patterns. I also recognize that being able to consistently produce creative work requires discipline – the very thing that has pushed me over the ill-defined lines of my own boundaries countless times before.

How can I lay the groundwork for a cooperative relationship between discipline and boundaries, so each one of these crucial tools is given the respect it deserves without letting it take the wheel? This is the ultimate question, the answer to which I’m still seeking.

Always a fan of iteration, I’ve decided that determining the answer to the discipline-boundaries formula is a long game – a quest for balance, if you will. Giving myself the grace to really appreciate this allows me to sit more firmly in this in-between place, where boundaries and discipline coexist peacefully rather than needing one or the other to dominate. 

This subtlety brings up the first of what will be many solutions to this puzzle: In this first act, I am practicing boundary-informed discipline. A self-coined term, boundary-informed discipline is a multi-step sequential process that goes something like this:

1. Start by defining my boundaries, to-dos phrased as “Every day, it’s important for me to…”

• Have solo time
• Have quality dinner, walk, and hang time with my fiancee and doggo
• Eat nutritious food
• Move my body
• Get a good night’s sleep
• Feel respected and capable

(Many of these are physical requirements for me, but boundaries for you may look different – perhaps with a greater focus on your thoughts, how others treat you, and so forth)

2. Add my boundary requirements to my to-do schedule: Before I add any creative tasks to my to-do list, I first slot in these boundary needs in so that they actively take up space on my schedule. This helps me to more actively commit to doing them, rather than just wishing they’d get done.
   
3. Then (and only then), add tasks into my to-do schedule: Here, I selectively choose tasks based on priority. I make sure that whatever I pick fits into the free time blocks remaining in my day (rather than overcommitting and having work spill out of work hours). 

This approach may seem contrived because, well, it is. But after practicing it for a month, I am happy to report that I have achieved many goals and have been able to honour my boundaries. In other words, I have achieved my goals while still feeling grounded, capable, and challenged enough to grow and develop.

While I may not have a golden solution for the nebulous boundaries/discipline/creativity debate, I have a starting point – and that’s good enough for now.