Ever wonder why checklists, calendars and daily schedules don’t work for you? Perhaps you have even parked yourself at the corner of Discovery and Realization in hopes of learning why daily schedules seem to be a recipe for hair-pulling frustration and emotional dead-ends. Well, I started a list! 
Despite 25 years of consulting, listening and teaching {and my own trial and error! 
} I keep expecting {hopin’ and wishin’} that I will not stumble into random, garden-variety forms of schedule worship, planner-envy and just plain ‘ol aggravation over my personal stash of schedule forms, planners and calendars!
Alas, I stumble. I fall. I get back up! 
10 Reasons Why Schedules Don’t {usually} Work
- Ideal versus reality: We plan for the ideal {flawless; exists only in our mind } day and we live in reality (multiple responsibilities, ever-changing energy-levels, duties and demands).
- Unrealistic expectations regarding the optimal time required for personal tasks and work projects {and rest
}. - Being an original and trying to be a copy. Assuming there is actually a one-size-fits-all planning method.
- CreAtivity cannot be scheduled; when inspiration arrives, art {creAtive but deliberate combination of elements} happens.
- Schedules and deadlines are the polar opposite of art {creAtive but deliberate combination of elements; appealing to the senses}.
- Right brain thinkers have the option of {collaging} art and schedules, deadlines and To-Do’s — but that is a process of intention and habit. Read: It doesn’t always work either.
- Perfectionism … A Perfectionism Review by The Flylady Crew. This is a cancer that consumes our vibrant, creAtive energy. Avoid it {or redirect yourself back into grace — immediately}.
- Nothing works all the time.
- We are human. Life happens.
- What we do when we are “procrastinating” reveals what we need to allow more time for … (Listed last because we all need to ponder this, and then incorporate time to do what we ♥ to do!
The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists. ~Charles Dickens
Right Brain Planner is a resource for creAtive-minded, color-outside-the-lines folks who typically see their days in random sequences — and rarely in straight lines. With the mission of developing a collaborative {wiki} planning system — accommodating the distinct flow of the creAtive mind — by and for creAtive, right brain thinkers and life-doers.
♦ More about creAtive planning.
♦ Fabulous list of creative brainstorming quotations!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
You mean the to-do list I just wrote probably won’t work? I made it then sat down to check e-mail, got distracted by twitter, and am now watching tv, surfing the internet, not walking the dogs and running errands. I guess since I’m already distracted I should go read the fly lady!
I wouldn’t say that, Cindy!
When we write down our “To-Do” {and other miscellany} we are imprinting said tasks and ideas in our memory. The act of writing improves your memory … More about “The Power of Writing Things Down“
Well … I’m not sure I agree with all the reasoning behind this. With practice, creativity can be scheduled. One of the tips I learned in a business writing class is to set a timer for 10 minutes and start writing. That helps train people how to write when they need to.
You also lost me on schedule. I’ve been reading a lot of time management books, particularly on calendars. They all focus on a couple of things: The way left-brained people do it, and trying to cram as much into the day as possible. The books talk about estimating time for everything and blocking out it on the calendar–which means the schedule is shot when something unexpected happens. Why do we need to do all of that? I keep mine very simple–I put doctor’s appointments on it and other things that I need to remember, but I don’t fill in a schedule for an entire day.
With planners, I think a lot of people just pick one up, figuring they’re all the same instead of taking the time to explore and find the best one. I went through four this year, an experiment to see what worked best for me because I wanted to find something I was going to use. I learned from the experiment that it 1) couldn’t be high maintence (putting in the new month’s pages and taking out old pages or filling in dates); 2) needed to be 8×10 (most planners are 5X8, so I have to work a bit to find the larger sizes); 3) Have a two-page spread for the month (a lot of planners focus only on the weeks); and 4) Be aesthetically pleasing inside.
Excellent ideas, Linda! And I agree that experimenting is the best way to determine habits and planning tools. Simplicity and creAtivity are essential to ensure right-brain thinkers will actually utilize — as well as benefit from — a planning system.
With regard to “scheduling creAtivity” a practice such as setting a timer or scheduling a block of time is effective. (Resources such as Leah Piken Kolidas’ Creative Every Day offers inspiration to begin {or develop and maintain} the practice of creAtivity.)
However, there are times when inspiration pops in without an appointment, offering spontaneous solutions and progress {at the price of derailing previous plans}.
Bottom line, until recent years creAtively-minded people were labeled unfocused, random and even lazy. Leaving us to discover inventive methods regarding productivity and creAtive order. Social networking, multi-media collage techniques, digital art and planners — and the entire array of artistic journaling and scrapbooking tools empowered us to move beyond lines and fill-in-the-blank planners. ★
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