The bad thing about setting a schedule is that something always comes up to ruin it.
Say you are serious and promise to be diligent and productive about your days. There are a lot of tasks to do and projects that needs to be done. You decide that the best way to attack these is to set a schedule. Productivity experts advise on this: set a schedule and follow it.
Bad as you are in following a schedule, you painstakingly mark the hours of the day when you are going to tackle a task. Four tasks for the day. You use block timing. The morning is for you deep tasks some exercise, the afternoon is for your say game development project.
On the first day, you worked throughout the day and successfully followed the schedule. You tackled and attack each task with such effectivity. The next day, you expect that same result will follow. Now, you are lucky if this happens. Though sometimes it happens, you are able to follow your schedule and work on your tasks. Let’s stretch this positive result to four days in a row that you are able to follow the schedule.
But comes the next day, your wife was bored and a little bit irked by something because of her period or the children have no school – classes are suspended. They bugged you to do something different. And since you cannot concentrate when somebody is talking to you repeatedly while working on your task, you succumbed. You left your tasks and there your schedule is ruined.
The next day, just right in the middle of the midday task, somebody called. Oh, it’s the birthday of your brother or sister and they invited you for lunch. How could you forget about it. Then it became a surprise lunch with them.
Before you knew it, you have skipped religiously following your schedule for three to four days, and you need to start all over again. Then the same things happened. A something will come up to ruin your schedule.
Then you realize somehow that you almost have no control of your day. Setting a schedule will give you a proof that your day is a collection of events that attempt to ruin it.
I recall an interview to a publisher or a writer who had success in his career. He said he intentionally separated himself from all the events, drama, and activities of his family. He knows something will always come up to delay and derail him on these tasks and before you knew it, a year has been wasted attending to small events that you could have spent your time doing your work. So, he shunned these instances and only attend to family matters when his attention is urgently needed.
You can only be successful in your schedule if you intelligently guard your time. You have to be mindful that nothing encroaches on it without valid reason. I cannot emphasize this more: you have to be serious about this.
Something will always come up to ruin your schedule.
So me, I avoid any unnecessary family events. As much as possible, no errands, no unannounced activities, or surprise lunches. I think I’m good with my schedule.
But what is that noise I hear outside?
There is an excavation going on across the street before the neighbor’s house. And the noise of the pry bar and hammers is just something.
So, there you go.