Creating a schedule in an unscheduled life.

[inconditus]

Ok. that's a bad title. I do have a work schedule; however, its retail so it rotates a lot. I want to start making a schedule for yoga, work, school, business ventures etc. but I don't know how to do that when my work schedule varies from 7am to 10pm (including driving time).

My only idea so far is to different schedules for different shifts. The whole thing is pretty random but morning shifts are somewhere from 7:45-8:30, mid is somewhere between 10-12, and close is somewhere between 1:30-5. So I guess I could make 3 different ones leaving open time in between? or maybe 4 giving closing shifts 2 since there is so much variance.

The only problem with this is that it seems like a pain, and on days that I say, close one day and work morning another it messes up the schedule as far as how late I can stay up/when I have to wake up?

Any suggestions? I'm kind of lost here so any advise would be very helpful.

[taylor]

I don't think if your retail schedule's always changing, that you can have a static, stable personal schedule.

What you can do though is create blocks of time for each activity you need to do, whatever that is. For some activities you'll need long stretches say 4 hours. For others, you only need 10 minutes. And maybe not all of these you have to do every day, but others you want to. You could write out these activities and their ideal time block and desired frequency. Then, as your work schedule changes for the day, rearrange your activities around work and write it down for the day. I personally use a note card for scheduling and I rewrite it every day so I can mark off what I've done/didn't do.

[Swifthawk]

Originally Posted by inconditus

Ok. that's a bad title. I do have a work schedule; however, its retail so it rotates a lot. I want to start making a schedule for yoga, work, school, business ventures etc. but I don't know how to do that when my work schedule varies from 7am to 10pm (including driving time).

My only idea so far is to different schedules for different shifts. The whole thing is pretty random but morning shifts are somewhere from 7:45-8:30, mid is somewhere between 10-12, and close is somewhere between 1:30-5. So I guess I could make 3 different ones leaving open time in between? or maybe 4 giving closing shifts 2 since there is so much variance.

The only problem with this is that it seems like a pain, and on days that I say, close one day and work morning another it messes up the schedule as far as how late I can stay up/when I have to wake up?

Any suggestions? I'm kind of lost here so any advise would be very helpful.

I'm in the same boat as you right now. I currently work 3 different kinds of shifts. Either 7am-3pm, 3pm-11pm, or the night from 11pm-7am.

The schedule is made for every three weeks and my days off are pretty random.

Because of this, it is nearly impossible to be able to make some sort of schedule that lasts longer than those three weeks. You can try, but it will be pretty hard.

My best tip is to get a copy of your work schedule as soon as possible and plan it from there. Having a completely solid schedule when your work is completely liquid is probably not going to happen.

When I lift weights, I go by myself. Sometimes 7 in the morning, sometimes 11 at night, and I write, read, and hang out with friends whenever possible.

[CoolBee]

Instead of trying to tie yourself to a schedule, why not have a simple check-off list?

You can have it grouped into:

Absolute MUST (and keep this to a minimum - maybe wash up everything and pick up clothes).

Nice to have if low energy short time
low energy longer time
high energy short time
high energy longer time

[Greek Dog]

I'm trying to decide whether to chime in here or start my own but I am in need of and determined to start a schedule and create order in my life, physically, chronically and in other ways as well.

I don't have the problem of an irregular work schedule in the same way but none-the-less it. I have not been living with a schedule for a number of reasons and it has become a real problem.

I have a number of things that I want to accomplish and having order and a schedule and clear movement towards goals will go a long way towards that.

Part of what has been in my way has been that I have until very recently been paralyzed by a combination of depression and anxiety. But I have found a practice that has given me power to overcome that paralysis.

When I was shut down, I found it impossible to keep my schedule and that lead to self-recriminations and more depression, creating a vicious cycle.

I realize that I have a fear of encountering that failure again and that is generating a barrier in even coming up with a schedule. Add on to that a tendency to be slightly unrealistic by packing in too much to a schedule or making it too difficult to keep.

So I will be addressing those issues along with trying to set up a schedule. One of the first things to put on my schedule will be exercise which I most sorely need this time of year.

Cheers and good luck to all of us who desire establishing and keeping a schedule.

[Rimuel]

Create 30 minutes time blocks for your important activities. For example:

30:00 - Cook a healthy meal, eat and wash up
30:00 - Read 10 pages of Book A
30:00 - Do 200 pushups and 200 bench-presses
30:00 - Play an MMO
30:00 - Wash 20 clothes

Make sure that all of the activities in one time block can be completed within 30 minutes. Take into consideration travelling time as well; you may only need 15 minutes for exercising, but what about bathing and returning to your office/retail store?

After you have created a time block for all activities, all you need to do is find out about your schedule early in the day and fit the time blocks to the free space in your schedule.