Revisiting Schedules

I have talked about time and schedules in past blog posts. I believe that schedule is not a four letter word, but time is. However I like four letter words. Just ask anyone who knows me.

Ticking clocks

While Tracy and I were walking through one of the gorgeous forest trails on Vancouver Island she mentioned how time can really slip away. Life sort of takes over and BAM a whole lot of time just flies by and you haven’t talked to someone you care about for months. As she kindly thought out loud about how this has happens I simply said ‘schedule it.’ It’s an easy fix and an easy concept.

Industry is smart

Industry has this all figured out. The one thing that is scheduled to the max is our work life. We are told what time to get there, what time to leave, how long our breaks are, if we are needed extra, or less. And guess who’s making money? Yup. Industry. They’ve got this schedule thing down so tight that we don’t even blink at the idea that we may be seeing our job more than our loved ones. That’s messed up.

And with being so regimented, no wonder so many people struggle with their day to day, losing track of time. We’re scheduled so hard at work that most people probably buck the idea when they leave their job.

Getting things done

Schedules are not romantic or spontaneous but I’m okay with that. I’m okay with a level of routine in the day to day to make sure that I am able to keep a happy balance. I have a friend at work who I met when we both started at the same school at the same time. We were also down the hall from each other and we had our prep times at the same time. We would visit a lot. It was awesome. Then her schedule changed and she moved upstairs. We hardly saw each other. A year went by. A whole year! At the beginning of the next school year I told her that I would like to see her more often. We scheduled the last Tuesday of every month as a catch up. It’s perfect. Maybe a bit formulaic but we look forward to the clock work of it.

The same goes for my S.O. We have a long standing date night and we also look forward to that. We get caught up on our week of stories, our shenanigans and what’s coming up.

Finally, I schedule my wellness routines into my day. I don’t have a strict time but I have a checklist so I know what needs to get done. I’m not ridiculously stringent. However, I know what I need to stay happy and I also know that I’m able to get away and drop schedules and go with the flow when I need to as well.

All of this makes me happy. Days don’t fly by and people I care about aren’t M.I.A. to me. Tasks I want to get done aren’t forgotten. It sounds so simple because it is. I don’t even mind the idea of routine. It’s nice and comforting and not dull at all.

We never want to feel about work the same way we do about life outside of work, or so we think. But the truth is what’s wrong with scheduling a monthly visit with your mom or dad for supper, your sister for coffee, a friend for a hang out? No, it’s not spontaneous but if it’s important it may be necessary. Relationships are important and we don’t schedule them into our day the way we should. We also don’t schedule pleasure either which should be a must. Why don’t we put pleasureful, fun things in the calendar? I’m just thinking about industry again and how much money is made by running a tight time ship. What if we thought about our relationships as commodity, as the thing we want a profit of happiness from. All this to say that I wouldn’t have lived the life I have without making sure I’ve fit the experiences (including writing) into my day.

I hope I’ve got you thinking.
Blessings and have a great week.

You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.

Charles Bruxton