For a long time, I’ve been trying to get myself into a routine, which is really just a schedule of daily activities.
Breakfast at X AM. Drawing from Y to Z. Exercise, guitar, and all the other things I enjoy on a time related grid.
Thus far, it’s been a failed experiment, so I’m trying something new.
I’m giving up on fixed beginnings, middles, and ends. There seems to be something arbitrary and mindless about them, anyway.
Besides, I no longer work for a corporation. I have no daily meetings to attend, conference calls to dial into, or appointments to show up for. Perhaps those things will one day be a part of my life again, but only if I choose to add them.
So, I’ve taken some time to think about the things I love to do and the things I want to make a reoccurring part of my life, and I’ve decided that a schedule suits neither them or me.
Instead, I’ve started thinking about my day in terms of creating a natural feel and flow.
I begin my day wordlessly, exercising and listening to music as I run. Breakfast and a shower and more accompanying music which leads me naturally into a session with my guitar.
And the dreamy nature of guitar practice, I’ve discovered, is a nice prelude to drawing which is a nice prelude to writing.
My evenings are reserved for reading and strength training.
There are no start-and-stop times. I begin when I awake and move mindfully from one thing to the next, transitioning when it feels most natural, much like flowing water.
The other aspects of my life like work and meals and chores and time with loved ones are the pebbles and rocks and other formations I encounter as I make my way downstream. These are not obstacles to the flow of my day. Instead, they are the things that shape and form my life.
I’m not sure how I stumbled upon this idea, but I find it far more natural, helpful, and invigorating than the notion of a fixed and rigid schedule.
So far, so good, but only time will tell how beneficial this really is.
In the meantime, perhaps there’s a natural flow to the things you enjoy too. It might be worth your while to ponder, and if you do, let me know how things are flowing.
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve always struggled with scheduling myself and my time. I’ll come up with some elaborate schedule that inevitably crumbles after 2 days. It just never works but I thought there was something wrong with me – that I just needed to be more disciplined.
It never occurred to me to scrap the whole thing altogether.
I think I’m going to have to do that!
.-= Sarah Marie Lacy´s last blog ..Finishing. =-.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that I don’t have things to get done. I’m just finding it easier to slide them into the flow than to stick them on a grid.
I’m digging this, Ken. Lately I’ve been sensitive to my “energy flow” as Pam and Charlie touted at the LiftOff Retreat. It makes a huge difference and removes all pressure to perform. Good stuff.
.-= Willie Jackson´s last blog ..The case for personal websites =-.
I think that’s precisely what this is all about. I’m managing my energy more than I’m managing my time. Thanks for the input. Charlie and Pam are awesome. You are too, btw.
I found this particularly beautiful + helpful:
“The other aspects of my life like work and meals and chores and time with loved ones are the pebbles and rocks and other formations I encounter as I make my way downstream. These are not obstacles to the flow of my day. Instead, they are the things that shape and form my life.”
I have been trying to tap into a meandering, enjoyable flow to my days lately, too. But I have still been responding with a false urgency that doesn’t really relate to my new lifestyle. It will be really helpful to use this metaphor instead of my default put-out-the-fire mode. Thanks, as always, Ken!
.-= Megan Lubaszka´s last blog ..Hamburgers and Helpful Disclosures | The Secret of the Resistant Readers Part 4 =-.
It’s funny how helpful metaphors can be. The things I do on a daily basis haven’t changed as much as the way I look at them, and, for me, that makes all the difference in how I feel as I engage in them.
I love this post (once again
).
The creative part of me rebels whenever I make up rules and simply stops creating. Schedules go in the rules category. If I say, “these two hours are for writing a blog post and then you will switch to…” the creative part (the writer, the idea-generator) will not come out to play. And why should she? It sounds kind of dangerous and inflexible and not that much fun.
Since I stopped working a “show up a the office for 8 hrs kind of job” I’ve tried to implement various schedules – first exercise then write, first meditate then write then exercise…only chck email in the afternoon, etc. Most of these have failed. I want to do it differently on different days. Period.
What seems to work for me is a lot of open time to write and be creative, regular intervals of people contact since that really energizes me, and some ovearching goals and commitments that help me set global priorities for my time.
Thanks Ken!
Tara
.-= Tara Mohr´s last blog ..Living—and Leaving—The B+ Life =-.
I’m so with you on this! I quit my day job about 5 months ago. After about a month of sleeping late and doing whatever would make me happy each day, guilt started creeping in. I tried to implement a schedule, but it stifled me and only made me feel more guilty when I strayed from it. So recently, I’ve been listening to my instincts and asking myself what I most want to do at that moment. And then I do it. This is a much healthier and happier way for me to live.
.-= darrah´s last blog ..happy spring! =-.
Hey Ken!
I sometimes feel torn between wanting to just flow from one thing to the next and feeling like if I don’t set at least some structure, I will flow, then float, then then ride away with the tide.
I’ve been experimenting too…as always, and finding that if I have just a few things on my list that I really want to get done (and I have trouble narrowing it down to just a few), then I continue to move along the path to my dreams. Slowly, perhaps, but steadily.
I think steady progress is a better thing to aim for than speedy progress, so I can completely relate to your experiments.
Great post Ken! Other than those commitments which absolutely require scheduling, I am working “in the flow” of my life. As a new artist, I go from working with one medium to another, from exercise or a walk outside to relaxing and catching up on some reading. To get in my creative mode I have to go with what feels right at the moment. It seems to be working. Now if I can only get rid of all the “have to’s” I would be doing great. I guess those things are just part of life and I’ll get them done and move onto something more enjoyable.
I think it could work as long as you are aware of everything you need to do.
.-= Miguel de Luis´s last blog ..my-ear-trumpet:catenariesanddirigibles:archaeoterra:Steam… =-.
That’s funny you should say that, because the thing I’m becoming most aware of his how many things I thought I needed to do that I didn’t.
Oh yes that’s really what I am wanting to achieve in my life. So fascinating to read about it from another’s perspective. It really sounds great, I feel the flow of your daily life rushing through your writing style. I’ve imagined you doing at any time in the day that passion you like the most in each present moment. It really resonates with me. I am not able to fit into plans I make for myself. I know that what you are living right now is my upcoming life. I would love to stay in touch with you to get to know how to achieve that way of living best.
I’m grateful for your article. Thank you!
.-= Michael Michalowski´s last blog ..The Simplest But Best Way for Anything You Want =-.
Thank you for this inspiring blog. I gravitate to this kind of life but tend guilty about that and, after reading the many opinions out there of the glories of a scheduled life, fall into the regimen. I am grateful to hear of a successful non-scheduler!!
I don’t know how successful I am. I’m not even sure I know what successful would look like, but I’m much happier and far more engaged than I was before.
Sorry but I’m having a hard time with this post. Between 3 part time jobs and 2 kids, my entire life is scheduled by the hour. Not sure how to let go of a rigid schedule.
.-= Michele´s last blog ..Lenton promises… =-.
That’s perfectly understandable, Michele. This is what works for me (so far). That doesn’t mean it works for everyone. There’s no right or wrong way to live out your life. There’s simply what works or doesn’t, and that will be different for each of us.
You are an inspiration, Ken. I am finding the same thing with my life. It feels so good to let go!
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