Scheduling for the Rebellious

So many times I’ve tried to schedule my day down to 15-minute intervals, but I’ve found I really rebel against being that rigid. Rather than being invigorated by getting so much done, I wind up feeling exhausted and frustrated when the schedule is thrown off.

Having a general idea of what needs to be completed on a particular day or a certain number of times per week works much better for me. I still have some order to the week, but I don’t feel like my spontaneity and creativity are bound by a too-restrictive schedule.

If scheduling your day has never worked for you, perhaps you need to take a different approach. Try patterning your week instead.

Here’s my personal Schedule for the Rebellious:

Monday: Because Mondays are typically hard work days, I try to schedule little this day in the way of home maintenance. This is a good day for some cardio to help blow off some stress.

Thursday: Toastmasters. This takes up a good chunk of my non-working hours, so I try not to schedule anything on Thursdays.

Friday: This is my heavy cleaning day. In a small apartment, that’s just 1 hour if I’ve been good about keeping it uncluttered. I try to clean/declutter for at least 15 minutes every day of the week. Heavy cleaning would be anything that’s a dirtier job than clean-as-you-go tasks. For example, last week I cleaned the fridge, threw out expired food, washed out the kitchen trash can, and scrubbed the dirty rag bin that holds my used cleaning rags before washing.

Saturday: Day of rest, day of enjoyment. This is my day free from work, from tasks, and from dealing with finances. In the evening, I throw a load of laundry in the washer. Saturday is also the day for enjoyable reading and long, luxuriating bubble baths. After Friday’s cleaning, a nice bath followed by immediately climbing into a bed with fresh sheets feels wonderful.

Sunday - Home, errand, and finances day. This is my day for heavy errand running and those dirty tasks, like washing the car and hauling things to the recycling center. Why Sunday? Most businesses here open later on Sunday. The morning is a good time for paying bills and doing errands that don’t require businesses to be open. Grocery shopping midmorning before the after-church rush hits the store works out very well, too. I also dry and fold the laundry that was washed the night before. Now I’m ready to begin a work week feeling like things are in order!

Sleep schedule: Monday-Friday: Up and out of bed by 6. Writing from 6-7. I telecommute 100% of the time, so I start my bread-and-butter job at 7. At night, at 9 p.m. I am off the computer and winding down for bed. This is the time for light activity, like stretching, meditation, washing face, and brushing and flossing teeth. After doing this same routine day after day, my brain knows ”we’re getting ready to have a blissful sleep.” By 9:30 I must be in bed, ready to read some light material, usually fiction or a spiritual book. The phone gets turned off. At 10 p.m. the light is turned out. Friday night I start this process at 10 with the light out at 11.

Monthly: The first of the month is my signal to do a self breast exam and check the mileage on the car and see if it’s due for routine maintenance (oil change, tire rotation, etc.).

A few pointers on creating your own Schedule for the Rebellious:

Be sure to revisit it periodically. Due to demands of work and outside activities, you may find your plan needs to be revised. I just revised mine about a week ago because I was getting that sense that the pattern I had for the week needed to be redefined. I’ll have to monitor this for a while and perhaps adjust it again if it’s not working.

Try to fit in a day of rest even if you are not religious. This gives your week a nice rhythm. I’ve also found that it makes it easier to work hard the other six days of the week when you know you’ll have one day devoted to rest and renewal.

Schedule a hard day right before your day of rest. I like to work hard on Friday to tie up loose ends in email and other projects at work so I can go into the weekend with a peaceful mind. Having a clean home also enables me to relax more on my rest day.

Don’t try to run on too little sleep. I wish I could be one of those people who only needed five hours of sleep, but I’m not. If I don’t get a full 8 hours, I’ll feel it during the day, which I think is counterproductive. If you ever have the luxury of a week or two without having to set the alarm clock, try going to bed only when you’re tired and waking up naturally. Record how much time you need.

Try to group similar activities. If you know that Saturday you’ll be filling up the gas tank, then also make sure you hit the library, the bank, and pick up groceries, too. Chunk your schedule in this way to save gas and time.

Start slowly. If you’ve been very resistant to scheduling in the past, start small. Just take a day or two and define them as “cleaning day” and “bill-paying day.” As you fall into a new pattern, you won’t even have to think about what you need to do that particular day. Then you can start adding other things that fit with the theme of the day.

Photo courtesy of Heatherparker.

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