Post: #1

I really like some of the concepts and have played with it a bit in the past, but at the same time, I feel like I'm planning out my every hour, even if I'm only planning the leisure stuff, and not leaving room to be spontaneous.

I'm a damn spontaneous person, and it seems like I'm always having to change the spreadsheet to accomodate my changing plans. Or just running behind or ahead on something and 30 minutes here and there off quickly gets the timesheet off kilter. I don't think he addressed this issue much in the book - in fact, I think his unschedule is on paper so he can't change it as easily as I can in a spreadsheet.

Anyone else have experience with this particular methodology, and did you ever have these issues?

By the way, let's try not to make this a thread about everyone's personal approach to productivity. We've got plenty of those, and I'm curious about this specific approach.

I have found planning out "fun" instead of work deeply satisfying (if you haven't read the book you're probably not truly prepared to comment on this concept), and I am definitely one of those procrastinators who often puts off all the shit I want to do off because I "should" be working (even though I'm actually not), which is a specific and very common procrastination problem this approach is designed to combat.

So, it would be cool to tune this particular program in and make it work.

He does talk earlier in the book about recording everything you do for a week to get a better sense of the way you really spend your time. Maybe I'm just screwing myself up by skipping that step...

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #2

I have used it quite a bit although not recently. I've been meaning to get back on it and only stopped because of some drastic job and life changes.

I thought the same as you until I decided to give it a shot. It really does work. At the very least you will realize how little time you actually have for a particular item and I procrastinated much less when using it. After a few weeks of adjusting time frames it works out pretty good. Running ahead is not a problem but getting behind can be. Start by scheduling in 30-60 minutes of "catch-up" time per day if you tend to get behind on stuff then gradually reduce it in the following weeks.

Planning out "fun" is also deeply satisfying as you note. Having the fun time on the schedule gives you a reward to look forward to as well as not having the thoughts of "maybe I should be doing xyz instead of this fun time". The fun time is just as important as every other part.

Spend an hour making an unschedule and try it for a week. I liked it from the get-go. If you don't like it scrap it. Google has tons of hourly planners that you can print off as well.

Post: #3

scubadude, thanks for the input. I did try it for a couple weeks in the past, and I did like it. I just kept letting it get away from me.

I do things very dependent on my mood. For example, when I was staying in Thailand doing this, I'd be working and say, alright fuck it, I feel like going for a motorbike ride. And I'd disappear in the backcountry for a few hours, sometimes even if I already had other "fun" stuff planned. I mean, I could just log that stuff and plan those rides, but for me it's so much more satisfying to just go on a whim (not too mention weather can be tricky in northern Thailand) - that's one reason I work for myself in the first place. To allow that kind of spontaneity. So that kind of thing was problematic and kept throwing me off.

Another example is a friend suddenly ringing you up with an offer to hang that you can't refuse. As you may know, Southeast Asian folks aren't exactly planners - requesting them to give you a day or two heads up on a plan is just hilarious, and it's more like they hit you up 20 or 30 minutes before they roll out, and you've got to jump up, hop on the bike, and jam out just to join in. So being unwilling to change your entire day on a whim really robs you of some opportunities to do cool things - sometimes I'd lose my entire day on impromptu invitations. Same with other foreigners passing through town that you haven't seen in a while.

Anyhow, these are challenges I'm sure everyone faces on some level, and it's clear I need to face up to them and find some more structure and responsibility in my life, preferably sooner than later. I mean, it's downright comical that I'm struggling even just to "plan my fun." haha

But I'm curious - what do you do when your unschedule gets off and you end up doing something different? Do you go back and completely log everything you ended up really doing for that day when your planned fun doesn't unroll as planned? Or do you find yourself just scrapping it and saying better luck tomorrow?

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #4

All good questions and I'm not sure of the answers. I would have to re-read the book as it's been several years since I did this. Clearly when something that you "can't refuse" comes up you should go do it. Which may mean scrapping the schedule for the rest of the day or even several depending what the activity is.

Is this something that really happens often enough for it to be an issue with the unschedule or is it something that you're using as an excuse to not do it? I could see it happening a time or two a week but enough to have to just trash the whole thing?

Post: #5

^ Haha Have you ever lived in Asia? I have a lot of more local friends than most people, at least in thailand and Cambodia, so the problem was pretty bad. The spontaneous, free-flowing way a lot of them run their lives is a bit unreal.

That said, I'm in the Philippines now and don't know many people here yet. So it's not too bad at the moment.

Anyhow, I already started using the system again yesterday, so maybe if I can solidify my patterns before I'm completely networked here it won't knock me off track so easily. I will just have to protect my time more if I want to see better results.

Just was curious how others adjust to these issues or adjusting the sheets as needed. I'm rereading the book now.

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling