Rules and Schedules and Boring Things Like That

In my post Midnight (and a Brief Overview of My Day), I mentioned that I had tried making and following a daily schedule. That was because I spend so much time on the computer or on my phone or watching TV that I decided I needed to find a way to be more productive.

I will list out my schedule here in case any of you are interested, but let me first tell you that I am not currently following the schedule. I got so tired of checking the clock to see what time it was or constantly having to be alert (yes, it's tiring staying awake, okay?) that I was like, Never mind! Nope. Never, ever again.

This was the schedule I came up with.

(7:30) Wake up

(7:30 - 9:00) Laze around, brush teeth, fact of the day, surya namaskar (Sanskrit for "sun salutation"; it's a sequence of yoga poses that you'd traditionally do like ten, twenty, a hundred times every morning. There's also a mantra that goes along with it.)

(9:00 - 9:45) Help with (and eat) breakfast

(9:45 - 10:15) Shower, comb hair

(10:15 - 10:30) Math

(10:30 - 10:45) French (listening to French music is also allowed! Here are my favorite French songs if you're interested!)

(10:45 - 11:15) Math

(11:15 - 11:40) Help around house

(11:40 - 12:00) European History

(12:00 - 12:10) Ten minute no-screen break

(12:10 - 1:00) Help around house

(1:00 - 2:00) Lunch

(2:00 - 3:00) Practise sitar

(3:00 - 4:00) English (reading books and writing stories allowed! Here are some of my favorite books.)

(4:00 - 4:30) Exercise (This is my exercise routine)

(4:30 - 5:00) Eat a snack, no-screen break

(5:00 - 5:30) Computer science

(5:30 - 5:45) Meditate

(5:45 - 6:15) English

(6:15 - 7:00) Science

(7:00 - 8:00) Break (screen allowed!)

(8:00 - 9:00) Dinner

(9:00 onwards) No phone allowed

(9:00 - 9:30) Laze around, get ready for bed

(9:30 - 9:40) Meditate

(9:40 onwards) Sleep (or watch a movie, or talk, or read)

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Why I Stopped Following This

A schedule just didn't work for me.

I like to go at my own pace, so even though I was the one making the schedule, and deciding how long to do what, there were still requirements. Y'know? I had to do at least an hour of math, I had to spend an hour learning chemistry, I had to do something in exactly half an hour or else.

It was honestly kind of depressing.

(Okay, I shouldn't use that word lightly. What I mean is, it got my spirits down.)

I don't know if it's just me, but I don't like it when I'm told to do something. Like, if someone tells me to stop using the word "stupid" I will deliberately use that word just to prove that I can. If someone tells be to be nice to someone I don't get along with, I just won't speak to that person because I'd rather stay silent than be nice to them.

Usually I'm good at doing as I'm told, especially if I respect the other person. But sometimes it feels like I have something to prove. You can't make me do something I don't want to do.

Obviously that has to change, but the core of it is, I have my own ideas of right and wrong and I wish those ideas were the only thing I had to follow. Basically I have a mental list, like Things I Will Do versus Things I'm Not Doing. But of course I have to obey parents and teachers and unspoken rules and written ones. There's I-should-dos and I-need-to-dos and I-better-get-tos. Ugh.

I mean, don't get me wrong. I understand that some things, like school, are necessary, even if they aren't enjoyable. That's why certain things like homework, exercising, and extra math are all on my Things I Will Do list. But there's something about rules that just gets to me. That includes schedules, too. Why do I have to wake up at 7:30? What happens if I happen to wake up at 7:15? Should I just spend fifteen minutes lying in bed so I can fit into the schedule? And who said 7:30? What if I want to wake up at 7:31?

You get the idea.

I guess I just don't like putting my whole life in neat little boxes. Doing math for an hour seems like a good idea, but what if it took me 50 minutes to understand the concept and I'm not done with my work after an hour? What if I get a break for 30 minutes but I have to sweep the house and I don't get to rest?

It doesn't make sense to try and fit everything neatly into a set number of hours because that's not what life is. Life is so much more than hours. It's spontaneous vacations, studying sprees where you don't get up for 16 hours, hanging out with friends when you feel like it, doing a random healthy eating challenge to change things up.

Routine is boring. It might be productive, but you'll be so tired and unhappy at the end of the day because you've been alert and working for hours, keeping one eye always on the clock because you can't go overtime. Even having fun is a "requirement," and that takes the fun away. "Do math from 3:00 - 4:00, then even if you're not done move on to chemistry for another hour, then start having fun at 5:00 and stop having fun at 5:30."

I think a schedule is a good starting step so you can figure out exactly what you want to do and what your goals are. But in the end, schedules have done nothing but keep me on edge and make me feel bad about myself if I fall a little behind. And that's not something anyone should go through every day. I mean, not only am I being told what to do and when to do it, if I don't understand something, or copying down some notes takes a little longer than I thought, I'm instantly "behind" and I have to work to catch up. That's not inspiring at all.

Wow. This has been one long, long post.

Do any of you guys follow daily schedules? I know some people would completely disagree with this giant rant. I think I'm just one of those people who hates monotony and loves spontaneity, so schedules and routines and rules and time constraints are my worst enemies.

Actually, no, I'd say my worst enemies are peas. I hate peas. They're little green minions of evil. Oh, and also I hate eggplants. They are evil.

Well, I hope this made an interesting read for some of you! Feel free to leave a comment or get in touch. And as always, thanks for boarding the Train of Thought!