"A schedule defends from chaos and whim."
-- Annie Dillard
This is funny, because in my life it is totally opposite. I can't imagine having a schedule.
It seems that many people need a well-ordered schedule to be productive. They need to have put down exactly what they will be doing each hour of the day. And they need a big chunk of time for each task, otherwise they won't get anything done.
Whereas for some reason I seem to be most effective when I have no clue what I'll be doing from one minute to the next. Whenever somebody asks me "so what will you be doing today?" I have no answer for them.
Of course it helps that I've arranged my life so I'm not dependent on anybody else's schedules. If I had to meet up with others and so on, I'd have to plan ahead.
I think that my interest is very fickle, changing rapidly and often. But what it is on at the moment, it's on strongly. So I work fast. I wonder if most people have a strong tendency for work-avoidance? So that if they don't know absolutely that the next two hours is for doing so-and-so task, it will not get done?
24 comments:
This is funny, because in my life it is totally opposite. I can't imagine having a schedule.
Try getting a real job.
I fail to see how a schedule will defend you from warm-hot intergalactic matter. ;-)
Seriously, what's wrong with whim, or even a little chaos?
I suspect many people are just terrified of chaos or anything unpredictable.
Those are the ones who need it most!!
bert said: "Seriously, what's wrong with whim, or even a little chaos?"
Nothing provided that it does not prevent you from accomplishing what you set out to do.
As for me, I find that chaos in some areas doesn't bother me much. But schedules is a different thing. I know that unless I set schedules and force myself to stay on a task after the novelty fades, I never complete anything. But then, I am not a fast worker. That may be the difference. In fact, I am most effective when hard pressed against a deadline.
This reminds me of Dr. NakaMats, the inventor with the most patents in the world. He says that he gets his greatest flashes of genius underwater just before losing consciousness (talk about a self-imposed deadline!) Here's a snippet from PingMag:
How do you ‘trigger’ an invention?
A lack of oxygen is very important.
A lack? Isn’t that dangerous??
It’s very dangerous. I get that Flash just 0.5 sec before death. I remain under the surface until this trigger comes up and I write it down with a special waterproof plexiglas writing pad I invented.
Do you do that a lot? Putting yourself in that kind of situation to come up with a new invention?
Of course.
Holy shit, I hope he was shitting them. But maybe not.
Inspiration seems to have something to do with disassociating from the body and human life, getting a connection to pure spirit. I've had a knack for it since an experience in the eighties, but the problem is it gives me terribly painful hangovers of sorts.
"Inspiration seems to have something to do with disassociating from the body and human life ..."
Yes, it is about channeling ideas from the spiritual realm.
There are many ways to get in to that state. NakaMats' is just one of many.
For me, it's not about spirituality. I do it all the time, especially when painted in a corner. I just put myself (willingly) in a state just before sleep, and stay there for hours, thinking of anything but my problem (a nice smile I got earlier in the day works just fine, that sort of thought).
When I get out of it, I often have my answer. I think its all about not constraining the mind. My ex used to go nuts watching me stare at a white wall for the better part of the day...
Yes, it is about channeling ideas from the spiritual realm.
It's a good thing I don't drink coffee (or anything else when at the keyboard) or I would have spewed it on the screen!
"It's a good thing I don't drink coffee (or anything else when at the keyboard) or I would have spewed it on the screen!"
You might want to consider switching off the TV sometime and try forming a thought. You are qualified: double digit IQ not required.
Ah, TTL, you are superhumanly stupid. No, scratch that. You are beyond the superhuman, nearly godlike. You may want to try taking your own advice.
Oh, goody, a firefight. We've lacked those for tone.
Eolake exultated: "Oh, goody, a firefight. We've lacked those for tone."
If you wait by the river long enough, eventually you will see the bodies of all your enemies float by.
-- Sun Tzu
Oh, that Sun Tzu, he was a regular ray of sunshine.
Yep, I bet ttl pretends to like Proust too! ha ha ha
"Yep, I bet ttl pretends to like Proust too!"
Nah, my own stuff is so much better.
In fact, some people make a healthy living from printing my comments on this blog and selling them leather bound in rare book auctions.
The only reason I know about this is because during my last visit to the Palace the Queen asked for my autograph on her copy.
Wasn't it two copies? She tried to sell me one at 100% markup.
Wow. That is impressive. But why, then, does your website make no mention of this? It is merely a catalogue of failure.
Eolake: "Wasn't it two copies? She tried to sell me one at 100% markup."
Ah, I naïvely thought the other one was for her husband. (I only signed it after she assured me she was not going to eBay it.) Oh well, she likes to make a quick quid where she can.
"My ex used to go nuts watching me stare at a white wall for the better part of the day..."
This might in part explain why today she's an ex. Survival instinct drove her to preserve her daily sanity!
I have to agree with the very first comment: a REAL job is one where you are overworked, underpaid, and exploited. Trust me -and Final Identity-, that's the norm in the "real world". And exactly the opposite of what you do, mister leisurely money-making oogler of young, beautiful, smiling, naked beautiful babes that...
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Heck, who wants a REAL job? I just want yours!
Mommy? Can I have the man's job, pleeeaaaase?
..."or I would have spewed it on the screen!"
Great. NOW he tells me. Right AFTER I went and made a big rubbery one reading that hot topic. (Even hotter than your cuppa coffee, Joe.)
Anybody knows how to get my pussy, I mean my cat, to lick a screen clean?
"Oh, goody, a firefight."
Is it too late for me to interest you gentlemen into buying some surplus Hezbollah machine guns? I'll give you a friend's price, since the Dollar's rate is dropping these days.
"Oh, that Sun Tzu, he was a regular ray of sunshine."
"When the wise man points at the sunshine, the pompous snob in ray-bans looks at the finger." - (Tshu-Tshu-Trenh)
"Oh well, she likes to make a quick quid where she can."
Ah, well, not everybody is lucky enough to be wealthy. Bear with the woman...
"mister leisurely money-making oogler of young, beautiful, smiling, naked beautiful babes"
I hope you're not referring to me! You won't find a more serious, duty-called, sour, stressed individual than me.
By the way, if you are unhappy with your life, you can always sell it.
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